Page 49 of Mated
He flexes his upper body and his cheek rubs against mine. The motion is catlike and more of his spicy scent fills my nose in a cloud. I go liquid and only his hot hands keep me upright.
“You run, Nisha,” Tanner rumbles against me. “You run as fast as you can. Because tomorrow, we will all be hunting you.”
Chapter 22
Tanner
Caine looks at me. “Run because we will all be hunting you?” he mimics my voice.
I glare and rub my face for the zillionth time since he hauled me bodily from Nisha’s cabin. But even outside, her scent is still in my nose. As it is, she is marked with my scent. And every time I touch her, more of it rubs off on her skin. Hell her skin is like velvet, and I want to touch every damn inch of her.
The low rumble of my cat spills from my lips.
Caine scoffs. "Damn cats," he mutters.
"I would think you prefer me like this," I say, not really focusing on him at all, but letting my senses trail outward. A lone grasshopper bounces off the side rail, drawing my eye back to Nisha's door.
"I prefer it when you can think with something besides your dick," Caine snaps. "We still have to go look at the dead cats. If you take her now, we won't ever make it."
My grin is feral. "How do you know I'm not a two pump and done kind of guy?"
"You're a fucking shifter, Tanner." That gets my attention. Not cat or beast. But my actual name. I look at him. Really look. His eyes are crinkled at the corners and his mouth is pursed. "You guys fucks like you stalk your prey. Slow, languid, like you have all the gods-damn time in the world."
"A shifter does."
"Well right fucking now we don't," he tells me, stepping closer in the shadows of the trees next to the cabin. "We need to figure out where the damn Brightex came from. How it got onto pack land, and why they targeted Nisha."
My eyes widen. "Protective of her now too?" He scowls. "I'm just saying. You have a thing with the women who come into this group."
That small step turns into a crowding one as he glares at me. "Even the Asmodai respect their other halves. When you find a truearmandour, you protect that partner. You treasure them. Because there is nothing else on any plain like the pleasure they can bring you." He jabs a finger into my chest. "Nothing."
Gone is the playful demon. Even the asshole I have come to deal with the last few weeks. No, this is a side of Caine none of us have ever dealt with. This facade is almost painful to see. To witness.
I don't make him move back. And I don’t shove at his fucking hand. Instead, following the instincts of my cat, I grip his shoulder and give it a tight squeeze.
"We’re going back to Silver Rock, Caine. And we will figure out where the Brightex came from." His ruby eyes flash. "And I promise what happened to Lilah will not happen with Nisha. You have my word. She may not be mine, but we still protect the innocent. No matter what. And I know I can count on you to have my back."
His breathing catches. And if my hand was not on his body, I would’ve never known because his expression never changes.
Still, he remains quiet, watching me. Or maybe weighing me as only a creature of Sin can. It's like being tried in front of the Fates, a jury of my peers, and Saint Peter all at once.
He nods.
I squeeze again before letting my hand fall. "But you really should consider changing."
That breaks the icy cast.
He looks down at the clothes he donned this morning. They are now torn from the scuffle in the woods, and a bit of demon ichor stains the hem of one sleeve. It's far from his normal slacks and silk button up.
He makes a sound of such complete disgust and steps off the porch.
“Where are you going?” I ask, trying not to laugh.
“To change, cat. We must return to Silver Rock. No one can see me in such rags.” He steps down the line to his cabin, and I can only shake my head.
This version of the demon I’m only too familiar with.
Chuckling under my breath, I head back inside to get Nisha ready to go.
