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“And there you go again, evading the question. It does tend to make me ask what you’re trying to hide.”
Anger flashed across his face. “That’s unfair, Brie, and you know it. You and I want the same things. We both hide in different ways, but I am not the enemy of the Shadow Sisters. I never have been. It’s time we banded together to bring down the Shadow League and whoever is truly behind them.”
“We can do that without surrendering our sovereignty,” she said stubbornly.
He reached up to tuck a stray lock of her copper-colored hair behind her ear. “I am not your enemy. Far from it. We both know we are so much more to each other.”
“I know no such thing.”
Colby chuckled. All evening, he’d made it clear that he knew why she’d seemed unsteady when she entered the foyer. He purred to her, found ways to touch her, and she’d been unwilling to put him off. The arousal that had started swirling in her nether region from the moment she had entered the hotel had been steadily increasing. It now surged through her blood like a wildfire out of control—heat, passion, and need churning together into an intoxicating cocktail.
“But you do. It may not be what you think you want, but we both know need is riding you hard. The scent of your arousal calls to me, as does everything about you. Would it be so wrong for you to find peace and some kind of solace in this world while you fight the good fight? Would we not both be stronger if we had the other to lean on?”
Brie thought about going for her knife. She told herself she would not as it would mean fighting her way out of the hotel, but she knew Colby would have already issued a command that she was not to be harmed. He might be seductive as all get out, but he was alpha through and through, and his men obeyed him. Period. Full stop. End of conversation.
The real reason she didn’t jerk her hand away or offer him any resistance as he led her toward the vintage, two-person elevator and drew her inside was simple. She didn’t want to. Sometimes she could resist him, but tonight was not one of those times. Oh, she might be able to, but tonight, she didn’t want to. She wanted him. He inserted a special key card in the controls that would take them to the top floor. She’d seen similar security features in other exclusive hotels.
“Colby,” she said as the doors opened onto a gorgeous room that seemed to take up the entire top floor; a top floor that had a commanding view of the Seattle skyline and the water below.
She gasped as she walked toward the windows. “It’s beautiful. It almost feels like we’re hanging in the air with the stars.”
“I agree. I bought this hotel, refurbished it, and created this sanctuary for myself for when I need to be in Seattle. Mystic River is a quiet place of refuge, but my work often requires me to be here. If I cannot persuade you to return to Windsong at my side, perhaps we could find a way to use this hotel to suit our needs.”
She turned, leaning back against the window, and smiled at him. She realized she had made this decision before she ever accepted his invitation. She couldn’t give them forever, but she could give them this night. She hadn’t realized he’d followed so closely behind her, but she wasn’t surprised when she turned, and he was in her personal space. The funny thing was, she found his stealth oddly comforting.
Time to try and create a little emotional distance between them—not just for her sake, but for his. “Look, Colby, I’m going to be honest with you. I accepted a long time ago that I was destined to live my life alone.”
“We both know that isn’t true. Destiny has brought you to your fated mate.”
Brie nodded. No sense in arguing against that which they both knew to be true. “That might be, but I chose a different path early on. There will be no happily ever after for me. I will not rest until I see all of my sisters free.”
“What makes you think I would try and keep you from your goal, as it is the same one I seek?”
Brie snorted.
“How can you doubt me?” he asked. “As I reminded you earlier, until recently my second-in-command was a female snow leopard-shifter. Time and again, I have lent my support to the Shadow Sisters, asking nothing in return. I don’t doubt your strength, courage, or tenacity, but I sense the part of you that you keep hidden from the world, maybe even from yourself. You need a mate who can offer you his loving support and passion.”
“And what do you need, Colby?”
“In a word, you. I need to be needed—not by my clan or the world at large. I long ago paid any debts I might have owed. What I do need is to be needed by one woman who wants me for myself and not for the wealth and power I bring to the table. I long for someone with whom I can share all my secrets.”
She wondered if that was even possible. Brie had the distinct feeling that there was so much more to what he was saying than just the words themselves. She knew it couldn’t work, but would it be so wrong just to indulge herself one last time in his passionate embrace? She believed it was no longer fair to him to allow him to continue to believe that they could ever be. Was it so wrong to indulge herself one last time in the memory of what it felt to be loved by her fated mate?
Her questions would go unasked and unanswered as Colby swept her into his arms, carrying her to the large, ornate brass bed at one end of the room. Somehow, without her really knowing how, he managed to strip them both of their clothes before lifting her in his arms and placing her in the middle of the bed. Purring, Colby hovered over her, spreading her legs and leaning down to put his mouth on her sex. The instant his lips made contact, Brie’s body arched up in response, every single erotic synapse coming online in a way it never had before.
“How I have missed you, my fated mate,” he purred.
Settling in, he began to lick, nibble, and suckle her clit until she was wriggling and gasping. Every cell in her body was in tune with his. She felt as if any tether she’d ever had to the earth had been severed and she floated in a miasma high over the city. Her body was soft, ripe, and ready for him. Colby moved down, nuzzling her labia and inhaling her scent—the purr becoming more of an aroused rumble.
He fastened his mouth to her pussy and began to feast, his tongue spearing her over and over as he lapped up her honey. Arousal and need surged through her system, and she knew she would miss his touch. There had never been another for her. She’d grown up wanting Colby Reynolds, knowing he was her fated mate. When she and her mother had escaped her father, she’d cried for days. Gaia had done her best to convince and console her that they were better off without Thane, but it wasn’t her father for whom she had mourned. It was Colby. It was always Colby.
Brie called his name as her body stiffened and she climaxed, her body shuddering before she sighed and went limp in his hands. But there was nothing limp or soft about Colby Reynolds. He was all coiled muscle, smooth skin, and hard cock. He crawled up her body, dragging his skin over hers, letting her feel his need and strength.
She watched him intently as he made his way up her body. He was, quite simply, the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. He combined raw masculine power with a grace and refinement she’d never seen in anyone else. He was an odd combination of feral, predatory elegance, and power. He was, for Brie, the very definition of what an alpha male lynx-shifter should be. In Brie’s estimation, no other man had ever measured up. She opened her arms and beckoned to him.
He covered her with his body, allowing her to take his weight as she wound herself around him. She could feel his breath; hear his heartbeat. He readjusted his position and stared into her eyes as the broad head of his cock breached her opening and he began to work his way in. Her pussy was tight around him and even with her orgasm and the slick of her arousal, there was a lot of him to be accommodated. But there was no pain, no discomfort, only perfection. It was as if she had been made to be his.
Colby began to thrust in and out of her, holding her steady beneath him so she was forced to take what he gave her. She found she didn’t mind as what he gave was wonderful, joyful, sensual pleasure. She’d been with other men, but nothing had ever compared to what she felt beneath the relentless pounding of her fated mate.
