His hands curled to fists, and he had to restrain his urge to choke the living daylights out of the male groping his woman.
She pulled away and laughed.Low and husky, the chortle twisted his gut and brought a wave of envy.Could a female mate with two different men?Leo sifted through the mating facts as relayed by Saber.There weren’t that many, and nothing he’d learned had prepared him for this dilemma.His younger twin brothers were both chasing Maggie, but they were a law unto themselves.They didn’t report in often, so their experiences were no help.
Leo forced himself to walk past to the bar.He slid onto a vacant barstool and ordered a dark beer.Meanwhile, the couple entered the adjoining restaurant.A hostess directed them to a table in Leo’s range of sight—if he craned his neck.They settled and accepted a wine list from the waitress.After handing over a twenty-dollar note and receiving his change, Leo shifted his barstool along the bar for a better view, sipped his drink and watched them with a mixture of irritation and pique.
The woman glanced up as if sensing his observation.Leo didn’t look away but held her gaze, letting instinct guide him.Instead of glaring at him or glancing away, she returned his interest.A small smile played around her full lips.Her friend tapped her on the shoulder, but she didn’t return her attention to him straightaway.She winked at Leo before turning away to accept the menu.
Leo let out a breath, even more confused.He didn’t know what to think or how to act.His logical mind, anyhow.His unruly body had this bit memorized, and he shifted on the barstool to ease into a more comfortable position.
Leo continued to watch the couple.After consulting the wine list, they turned their attention to the menu.The woman scanned the dishes on offer and set her menu on the table.The male read it through, asked his companion questions, and appeared to dither.
Score one point against him, Leo thought with disgruntlement.The stranger was good-looking with sandy-colored hair, or at least Leo had glimpsed other female diners checking him out and exchanging whispers.He was taller than the mystery woman and possessed hulking shoulders, although the suit jacket might hide a paunch.
Leo grunted.Mate or not?
Uncertainty made him reach for his drink.Damn.Empty.He signaled to the bartender and received another beer.After a third drink, Leo decided he was both sad and mistaken.This woman couldn’t be his mate.He drained the last mouthful from his glass and stood.With a final glance, he turned and walked away.
Outside the casino, night had fallen despite the long summer evenings.A soft breeze ruffled his hair, bringing with it a whiff of exotic spices and Chinese food.Leo strode toward the lake, deciding if he couldn’t shift and run, at least he could walk.When he passed restaurants lining the road, he heard flirtation, laughter, saw couples everywhere, their seats shoved close, heads together.Soft whispers.
Acute loneliness assailed him, joining the edgy anger and irritation bubbling inside.Poetic justice, according to his brothers, because women had fallen at his feet since he’d gone through the change as a teenager.His pretty face, everyone said.
Just as well he was here on his own, not with his brothers.Leo gave a wry grin before sobering.He could imagine the ribbing they’d give him.Nope.This was one of the times when solitary was good even if he reeled in confusion.
As he neared the edge of Lake Wakatipu, a tourist boat pulled up at the jetty.Passengers drifted off the boat in pairs.Leo’s throat tightened, and he shifted his attention to the dark surface of the lake instead.Around the shore, lights twinkled while darkness shrouded the Remarkable mountain range that bordered the large expanse of water.Leo kept walking until the sounds of high spirits faded.Now and then, a vehicle passed, or he caught the drift of chatter and music from an open window.More couples.Queenstown—a regular Noah’s ark.
Despondent, he continued to walk until he left the main center behind.Usually, the countryside soothed, relaxed him, but not tonight.He’d come out here to think, but nothing could get past the fact that the woman he wanted was with another man.Without being bigheaded, he knew he could woo and win another one, except his heart…his heart might break accepting second best.
Still out of sorts, Leo threw stones into the lake, the dull plop when the stone sank beneath the water echoing in his mind.He sat on the cool ground and studied the horizon with its myriad twinkling lights.After setting off from Middlemarch with such hopes, he’d plummeted to rock bottom.
“Hell, any minute I’m gonna break out with the country music.”In disgust, Leo leapt to his feet to walk back to central Queenstown and his hotel.He’d paid for the room, so might as well use it.Instead of staying for the entire weekend, he’d check out tomorrow morning and return to Middlemarch.He needed advice, and he figured he’d find someone at home.Emily, since she specialized in sympathy instead of teasing.
Twenty minutes later, Leo walked into the foyer of his boutique hotel.It was exclusive and overlooked the water.He liked staying in the Wallace because the staff was friendly and efficient, the owner a fellow shifter, a widow whose husband had died in a car accident.Erin was older than him.Gorgeous and sexy, he wished she’d been the one instead of the mystery woman.They’d considered a fling, but with no spark between them, they’d left it at close friends.
“Hi, Leo,” the night receptionist chirped.
He lifted a hand in greeting but kept walking.Instead of using the lifts, he climbed the stairs to his third-floor room.He plucked his keycard from his pocket and entered.
The faint scent of lemon polish and shifter combined with a foreign one—a hint of delicate flowers and a touch of spicy greenery.The maid had turned down his bed and placed a chocolate mint on his pillow.She’d forgotten to leave on the bedside lamp, which was a no-no in Erin’s rules.The hotel proprietress liked to get the small details right.
Leo shut the door, pausing a moment to let his eyes adjust to the pitch-black.The faint rustle coming from the bed made him pause.He peered through the darkness, picked out the shape of a person and cursed under his breath.He didn’t have the wrong room.The maid was going beyond the call of duty.
“Whoever you are, get out of my room.If you leave now, I won’t report you to Erin.”Leo sounded testy, but it had been that sort of day.He didn’t have the energy to dredge up smooth, urbane, and charming.
“I’ll go if you want,” a husky voice said.“But don’t you want to see what you’re rejecting first?”
The woman had the music of Europe in her speech.French or Italian.Something continental and familiar.
“Turn on the light.”Leo held his breath, distrusting his senses.
The crisp cotton sheets rustled.Leo’s heart raced.This was his mate, and she was waiting in his bed.His lungs expanded while he tried to exert control on his body.Not a single thought of cold showers or icky situations worked on his eager dick.It felt as if every drop of blood had sunk to his groin while he waited for illumination.
After a soft, descriptive curse that raised a grin in Leo, she found the light.It flicked on, spotlighting the bed.Leo gaped.The female in his bed wasn’t wearing anything except a come-hither smile.
It was her—the mystery woman.
Who is this woman?Learn more now
https://shelleymunro.com/books/my-assassin/
