Page 2 of Loving the Lion

Bachar’s animal rose inside him as the woman looked at him. Her brown eyes had opened wide at the sound of his voice. He was used to that reaction from the female gender. He’d been told he could melt a pair of panties off a woman at ten paces with his voice alone. His mouth lifted at the corner, still finding humor in the comment his mother had made so long ago.

When he had seen her enter the hotel, he’d been conducting business with another shifter. He had immediately dismissed the man, and it had taken only two steps for him to cross the room. Now, standing this close, her light and airy scent wrapped around him. For a second he forgot what he was doing. Forgot why he was there. Forgot everything except the sudden discovery of just how appealing sweetness and innocence could be.

Her lashes, thick and dark, fluttered, hiding those expressive brown eyes from his view. Was she as taken with him as he was with her? Did she feel the pull? A pulse quivered in her throat, and he wanted nothing more than to lean closer and press his lips to the soft flesh. To feel her heart race beneath his tongue seconds before he sank his fangs into the delectable flesh.

As she moved, sending the locks of her dark hair tumbling down her back, a heavier concentration of her scent wafted through the air, and he realized instantly, painfully, why he had been drawn to her.

She was his mate.

“Come, we will talk in here.”

He wondered if the kiss he wanted so desperately to give her would be worth the slap she was sure to give him for taking such a privilege. Her gaze met his and the air around him filled with the scent of her attraction. His nostrils flared. If he was not mistaken, she would soon be fertile.

A fertile mate.

That thought brought him back to reality with a hard snap. Just what the hell he didn’t need at the moment. What the hell did he think he was doing? There was too much danger surrounding his pride at the moment to even think about bringing his mate into the fold.

For the last month, a group of humans—The Group—had been terrorizing the tourists and even attacking shifters if they caught them in their animal form alone on the mountain.

He turned and led her to a room off the side of the main entrance. This hotel was designed to mimic hunting lodges of old—with every convenience known to modern man. The room where he led them was no less rich and decadent, exactly as he had envisioned it when the idea had first taken hold. Ten years ago, the government had handed shifters the most dangerous and inhospitable region of the states, hoping, like other people they had driven to near extinction with the same tactics, that the number of shifters would dwindle to nothing.

What they had not realized was shifters would actually thrive away from the mainstream of human population. This hotel was just one of many that he and others had built in this remote area. Built to accommodate the men and women who found shifters fascinating, if not ultimately frightening.

As they walked over the threshold of the room, she stumbled. Instantly, his hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her against him. Her warm, feminine body pressed tightly to his, and an inescapable arousal surged through him.

He did not let go. Could not let go.

She did not step away either. A good sign, his lion whispered.

His head tipped down of its own violation as he sought more of her scent. He felt his cock harden and shifted away before she had more than a brief impression of his arousal. No matter how tempting, he could not give into the lust—and mating desire—that flared in his blood. There was too much at stake for him to lose his focus now.

Not even for a mate.

He stepped back, but not before groaning silently at the sight of her slightly parted mouth. Her delicious-looking pink tongue was just barely visible. Oh, how he wanted to feel that part of her flicking over him, over and over again.

Like his, her eyes were going dark and unfocused with desire. He knew the animal within him was calling to her and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Her sweet innocence was a danger to them all. His cat snarled, rejecting the logic of the man. To the lion, nothing was more important than his mate.

“Please have a seat.”

The strange feeling that had suddenly overtaken Sally disappeared at the sound of the man’s dark voice. Now, just the flush of arousal lingered within her. On command, she dropped down to one of the large leather chairs he indicated. It was next to a large stone fireplace, where a small fire was burning. She could imagine the guests of the hotel surrounding it at night as the snow fell heavily outside.

A man had followed them from the check-in counter and waited at the doorway. Bachar stopped and spoke to him for a moment before joining her and taking the seat opposite hers. Immediately the room seemed to shrink in size. The man was powerfully built, and she wondered what type of shifter he was. It would make sense that he was a wolf, given their location. But that wasn’t the impression she was getting from him. He was somehow fiercer, a larger predator come to life.

“I am Bachar. How may I be of service?” He was over six feet of honed muscle dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a thick sweater. A perfect addition to the hotel’s atmosphere. She wondered how many women booked a room here just to get a glimpse of him.

Square jaw, full chiseled lips, and brown eyes that had a tendency to turn gold shaded by a pair of heavy brows. His hair was a dark brown, almost black, that fell recklessly over one eye and down the back of his neck.

He was a dangerous-looking male, and everything inside Sally screamed at her to turn around and run until there was a safe distance between them. Like the two thousand miles back home.

“I think my brother may be in your territory.”

“Is he here with a tour group?”

“Um, not exactly. He ran away from home.”

“And you think he is on this mountain?” His eyes were sharply focused on her face, and she tried to breathe normally. She knew shifters could scent deceit and tried to even out her breathing. She wasn’t lying. Just not revealing the entire truth. At least just yet.

“How old is your brother?”