Chapter 4
Cal was about to choke on his own tongue. He’d long since forgotten what he had her taking her clothes off for once she was standing in front of him bare. Ali had such a vulnerable look on her face, and he was trying his best to ignore it. Cal avoided the way she made him stand upright in all ways, his member trying to stretch out and touch her.
He knew the rules and Cal wasn’t ready to bring home a mate. But with a girl like Ali, he would have to take it all the way. She was untouched by man or beast, and that meant that Cal would have to make her his for good. He’d just met her, though he was drawn to the small, blonde woman with eyes the color of the ocean. That didn’t mean that he was ready to go to such lengths. Ali couldn’t just be a good time, no matter how much he would have liked for that to happen.
Her hands went behind her back, and Cal watched as the bra that held her breasts up fell away. The straps fell down her shoulders and then her arms. She was holding onto it, trying to stay covered for just a few seconds longer before she got up the nerve to drop it. Cal could see the determination in her eyes when she finally met his gaze.
“I know for sure that he didn’t touch me under my panties. If you want me to take them off, I will have no choice but to think that you’re a perv.”
Cal didn’t care how she saw him. He wanted to see every bit of her, and after their eyes clashed for a few more seconds, she looked down and blew out a long breath. “This is ridiculous. You’re not trying to make sure I’m okay. At least the other guy was straightforward about his perversion.”
“I really am just trying to make sure you’re okay.”
He was closer to her now, and Ali shivered with the touch of his hot breath on her neck. He moved the long, blonde strands of hair off her shoulders and took a quick nip on the bared skin. It made her jump and Cal wasn’t sure why he’d done it. It wasn’t something that he was supposed to do, more like something that he’d had to do. He wanted to push deep inside of her from behind, biting her neck and making her his in all ways conceivable. The scene was playing out so real-like in his mind that he had to shake it away.
That wasn’t meant to be though. Cal instead touched her skin lightly as he checked for anything that the vampire did to her. Her skin was perfect, and the trembling that his touch caused was perfect as well. She was the type of girl that could make a man feel like he was on top of the world and Calum was so close, he could have sampled a taste.
He got on his knees, and she moved back. “What are you doing?”
“Just being thorough.”
Ali muttered something under her breath about him being a pervert, and Cal ignored it. He was taking liberties that he probably shouldn’t have, but he couldn’t help it. Cal was pulled to the area of her that was hot and wet. His hand ached to touch her. All he had to do was reach out.
“It looks like you’re clean.”
She swallowed hard and didn’t look at him when she thanked him. “Can I go now?”
Calum didn’t want to let her go a step away from him. She was shaking from something that he said or did because it was very apparent to him now. What had made her feel this way suddenly? He could tell that she was turned on, the smell she was releasing was filling his nostrils. The last thing that Calum wanted was for her to go. Cal needed to think of something fast.
“I don’t think that you should go back, Ali. It could be dangerous.”
“Why?”
“Trenton is still alive, and he has targeted you for some reason. I don’t know why, but I do know that a nightwalker like that isn’t used to not getting his way. He will come for you, and now you’re marked. If you come with me, leave it all behind, I can keep you safe until we can catch him.”
“We?”
“My clan. We’ve been trying to put an end to his coven for centuries now, and we’re finally close. Once he’s out of the way and the rest of them are gone, there will be no more of them to come for you. You’ll be safe then.”
Ali shook her head. “What do you mean leave it all behind?”
“What you just took off will help them track you. Come with me as you are, and I’ll keep you safe until he’s out of the picture.”
“I don’t even know what you are, Cal. How do I know that you are any less dangerous than he is?”
He moved closer to her, and her heart stopped for a second, her breathing got faster.
“You know what I am, Ali. You don’t have to say it out loud for it to be true. I know that you know, so it’s no secret.”
“You’re a shifter?”
He nodded his head and smiled at her, glad that she wasn’t freaking out so far. It had been a lot for her to take on and at first, he was afraid that she’d been rendered useless from all the information going towards her. It sure felt that way at first when he was trying to get her to come out from her hiding place.
“So, what is it exactly that you want me to do?”
“Come ride with me, Ali. I will take you back to my pack where you’ll be safe.”
“And what do you want in return?”
