Take her. She’s ready, and mine. All mine.
Oh fuck.
Hell no.
And a whole lot of other dark and nasty words that did nothing to stop what happened next when she got too close.
The mating fever hit him, hard, without mercy and with a lot of lust.
Cock-hardening. Toe-tingling. Blood-boiling. Lust.
He could have perhaps explained the reaction being a result of catching sight of her naked body. Creamy smooth skin covering curves. Fuck me, those curves. Rounded hips, indented waist, and plump breasts topped with fat pink nipples.
Suckable nipples.
Please tell me I’m not drooling. It wasn’t seemly in a man his age or of his status.
Yet he really craved a taste of the sumptuous feast before him, but that wasn’t what brought on the certainty this woman belonged to him.
Before, he’d wondered at his wolf’s strange interest in the woman, especially its desire to protect. That was when she reeked of the river, with all its myriad strong scents.
However, now she didn’t have that stench to mask her. Now her musk—sweet ambrosia—wrapped around him, a snug noose and decadent pleasure at once.
The scent of her awoke the primal side of him, the wild half. This half recognized his mate.
The jaws of fate tried to catch him in its grip.
No! Not without a fight. A coward might have whirled. Out of sight, out of mind. But turning away wouldn’t hide her scent.
And I am not afraid.
“Did you forget something?” Arching a brow, he sought to command the situation, only to have her once again try to snag control from him.
She peeked down at herself, and he barely restrained a groan as her nipples hardened into peaks begging for his lips. “Well, I didn’t shave, but that was only because I didn’t see a razor.”
“I was talking about your nudity.”
“What about it?”
“It’s indecent.” And yes, he got the irony of his statement, given most shifters placed little stock in nudity. Actually, until this moment, he’d never batted an eye. But that was before now.
She laughed, the sound throaty and low. “Oh please. Indecent?” She pitched the word high. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a naked woman before.”
Did she have no shame? Nope. She tilted a hip, placed a hand on it, thrust her breasts out, and her very stare taunted him.
He gritted his teeth. “I’ve seen many naked women.” He relaxed and smiled. “Most of them my lovers. Is this your way of gaining my attention?”
Now it was her turn to look uncertain. Not for long. Her chin tilted. “Hardly. As you might have guessed, I wasn’t expecting company. Most gentlemen would have knocked before entering a lady’s bedroom.”
“First off, I’m not a gentleman.” Try more like a wild animal. “And second—”
“Don’t you dare say I’m not a lady,” she threatened with narrowed eyes.
“I was going to say ‘my house, my room,’ which means I see no reason why I should knock.”
“How about common courtesy?”
“Common courtesy is for others.” He smiled. “I make my own rules.”
“Speaking of rules, I noticed this room didn’t have a phone,” she mentioned as she stepped even closer to him.
He didn’t move, just watched her with only the barest grip on himself. How he wanted to sweep her into his arms and embrace those lips into compliance. To strip off his own clothes and feel the silkiness of her flesh against his.
She got right next to him. So close. So—
She leaned around him and grabbed at the garments he’d brought before stepping away. Before he could stop himself, he reached out to grab her.
Bad hand. He slapped the misbehaving appendage down and had both hands tucked behind his back before she whirled and shot him an inquiring look.
“Did you just slap yourself?”
“Mosquito.” Said completely deadpan.
She bought it or at least didn’t mention it further, a good thing, too, because he might have temporarily lost his ability to speak as she did her best to drive him insane.
No, seriously, she did it on purpose. What woman bent over, ass toward him—bare ass, he might add, which meant he got to see the pinkness of her sex, the hint of dark curls—as she tugged on soft flannel pants.
His pants.
When Fred, his butler, had run into Fabian in the hall with a stack of clothes, Fabian took one sniff of another wolf’s scent on them and decided he didn’t want her wearing them. At the time he’d not questioned his irrational need to have her wearing something of his, something with his scent.
Something that shows she’s mine.
Now it made all too much sense. It also provided a form of torture as the fabric touched her skin and hide her bountiful assets. The matching flannel top did its best to camouflage her splendid breasts, but the image of them was burned in his mind.
The overly large garments did not fit her well at all, the sleeves too long, the pant legs needing several rolls so she didn’t step on them. Still, though, in that moment, she outshone all the women he’d ever known.
It both exhilarated and frightened.
Fear? He feared nothing. Especially not one human woman who didn’t even know her name.
A woman whose face bore the mark of a coward. He couldn’t help but scowl at the bruise marring her face.
She noted his interest and raised a hand to cover it. “Not very pretty, is it?”
“Have you remembered anything yet?”
“If you mean do I know who I am…” She shook her head. “Nothing. Which is so weird because I remember those guys talking about killing me on the dock. I even recall being annoyed at their nerve. But my name, address, everything else that would tell me who I am, is like this blank spot in my mind. It’s frustrating.”
Nice to know he wasn’t the only frustrated one. Of course, his was easily fixed. A few steps and a seductive kiss would help him regain his footing.
But only a jolt to her memory would help her.
So jolt her then.
Alas, sex wasn’t the answer to everything. Pity.
“I’ve got my men searching the area where they dumped you. Maybe they’ll find a clue that will either help us identify you or at least lead us to the men who tried to kill you.”
She frowned. “You’ve got people hunting them down? Isn’t that a job for the police?”
He made a face. “Trust me when I say you’re better off letting me handle this. The police are fettered by too many rules and bureaucratic shit.”
“You’re not above the law.”
“Actually, in many respects, I am.” Did he allow himself a smug smile? Yes. As alpha of the shifters in this city, he’d earned it.
“Are you a criminal?”
“Would it matter if I was?”
“No.” Funny how she looked so surprised when she answered. Her brow knit. “I mean, yes. I mean … Oh hell, I don’t know what I mean. It’s like I already have all these opinions on stuff, and yet no background to put them in context. While I know I should be advocating calling the police and doing things right, legal-like, another part of me is…” She bit her lip.
“A bad girl?” Said with way too much pleasure.
“You wish.” She might have uttered it with indignation, but her smile took the sting from it. “So what happens if your men don’t find anything? How long do you plan on keeping me prisoner here?”
Forever.
Wrong answer. “You are free to leave at any time. If you want, I’ll have my man call you a cab. But let me ask you, where will you go?”
Her mouth opened and shut a few times, the gears in her mind turning as she mulled his question. “I don’t know.”
“Exactly. Since you have nowhere to go, and I have all this space, why not stay here until we find answers?”
“What if those killers are still looking for me? Won’t that put you in danger?”
Extreme danger. Just not the type she thought. “Danger is my middle name.”
“That is so cliché.”
“Very well, my true middle name is Eugene.” Why he admitted it he couldn’t have said, but he did enjoy her tinkle of laughter.
“Oh my God. Did your parents not love you at all? Fabian Eugene Garoux?”
“It’s better than that. Try Fabian Eugene Larry Garoux Junior.”
The bright sparkle in her eyes, and the way her lips parted in a throaty chuckle, proved more than he could handle. Before he realized he’d moved, he held her forearms and growled, “Stop laughing.”
“Or else you’ll do what, Junior?”
Dared? Challenge accepted. She continued to laugh, and he stopped the sound with the press of his mouth against hers.
Uh-oh.
What had he done?