Page 70 of Mated
No doubt the others have no qualms about coming after me in the field too. My face scalds.
My supposed heat is why the others are acting crazy. But Tanner is not. He stalks calmly at my side like some enormous panther bodyguard, alighting one paw in front of the other like we are on a casual evening stroll.
I bite my lip.
Callus made it seem like the shifters were dying for a piece of me. But he was calmer too. He walked away without looking back.
Is that an alpha thing? Or despite all their posturizing, does neither alpha male want me in that way?
I wrap my arms around my waist as we near the parking lot.
Tanner walks right up to my Jeep and waits.
I open the back door and he hops in. Even more confused than before, I slip behind the driver’s seat and start the car. I peer at him in the rearview.
He sits up in the backseat, his head hunched to keep from brushing the ceiling. But there is no dark mist. No sign of the man.
Just the cat.
Frowning, I put the car into reverse and start the drive back to the campground. I peer at him again. “Will Caine and Gage be okay?”
His silver eyes meet mine. But there is no other response.
“You know carrying on a conversation is easier when you’re human?”
He gives a wide yawn, flashing long white teeth.
I go back to scowling out the front window. I am pulling into the campground turnaround when there is a slight pop from behind me. I start to glance back again.
“Don’t.” Tanner’s voice is deeper than normal. Rasping almost. “Park and go inside your cabin.”
My body dampens more at his husky tone. “Why?”
“Because I told you to, Nisha.”
A touch of anger sparks through me, and I slam on the brakes and put the car in park. “I’m not good at taking orders, Tanner,” I snap, starting to turn around to glower at him. “Especially not from guys that don’t write my paycheck.” Long hot fingers slip into my hair and a wash of spice fills my nose.
My head is kept forward by his strong hand. “You have done nothing but argue with me from the beginning, woman,” he says, his tone brokering no room for argument this time. “Tonight you ran from me and left me chasing your sweet little ass all over Silver Rock.” My eyes widen and my breathing picks up. “You will go inside. You will close the fucking door, and you will not let anyone else in. Do you understand?”
The thrum of my heart skips a beat. “Where will you be?”
He growls, and the sound is even sexier in human form. “On your fucking front porch until I know the others aren’t stupid enough to cross off Silver Rock.” His hand tightens for a moment before he releases me. “Now go inside.”
I inhale his spicy fragrance. My insides shiver and between my legs throbs. But I climb from the car like a robot and shut the door. Every step quickens my breathing as his near silent footfalls follow me.
I climb onto the low porch and open the door. I get a glimpse of tattooed arm and chest before he snares the knob and pulls the panel closed behind me.
His shadow paces across the porch, back and forth, back and forth.
My insides heat at the flash of nude hip that is visible between the curtain panels.
Oh god.
I stand rooted to the floor, wanting to peer through the gossamer fabric and knowing that if I do, I’ll wrench open the door and haul him inside.
Backing up slowly, I make my way into the bathroom and turn on the shower. Cold water splashes into the porcelain tub. I quickly undress and climb under the spray. My teeth grit but that golden expanse of skin keeps flashing through my mind until the heat in my body should make the water steam.
I wash carefully. But every glide of my soap covered hand is a new taste of erotic torture. The bubbles slip down my belly and I gingerly clean between my thighs. The first brush of my fingers over my clit sends me sagging into the shower wall as pleasure arcs through me.
