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She started and looked up at him. He saw the pain in her gaze, but it disappeared quickly, and she forced a smile. “Yes. How are you?”
He ignored the question. “So you have a fiancé, yet you slept with us.” Making it sound like a casual question seemed like a crash and burn to him, but she didn’t appear to notice. Her frown, complete with pursed lips, was too cute for him to look away. At that moment, he felt more like the Big Bad Wolf than a bear. Would she run if he told her how much he wanted to taste her? A bit of his desire must have shown in his eyes, because he got a sudden whiff of her pungent cream and almost lost it. He imagined her soaking her panties and himself delving for more with his finger or his mouth while she cried out his name.
“I’m not engaged.”
Relief flooded Kotori’s system. “You say that, but he was pretty intense about it—about you.”
“Believe what you want to believe. At this point, I don’t care.” She waved a hand and turned away, but he snaked a hand out to grab her arm. She winced in pain, and he jerked back.
“What happened? I didn’t grab you that hard.”
Her gaze skittered away from his, and he sensed she was about to lie. After a beat, she appeared to change her mind.
“My brother visited me, acting like a butthead. He’s gone now, so it’s not a big deal.”
Kotori pushed his hands into his pockets to keep from putting his fist through the wall. As a human, she could not understand the seriousness of what she had just told him. “Listen to me closely, Shiya. If he comes near you again, I will deal with him.”
“What do you mean ‘deal with him’?”
“He has no right to touch you—ever again.”
She studied his face. “You’re different from the way you were when we went on the tram.”
“I’m the same.”
“But you’re more intense. I don
’t know how to put my finger on it.”
She sighed and turned to walk. He fell into step beside her. How could he tell her he’d always been this way, just short of losing control and reaching out for what he wanted? He smiled at her, had conversation with her, but all the time, he wanted to possess her, to fill her with himself. The night they had sex, it took everything inside him not to do all that he’d fantasized about to her. She’s human, he reminded himself. He had grown up with his family, a few shifters but not all. Even the ones who couldn’t change were strong, so he came to the belief that humans were very fragile. Still, Shiya took him and even liked the way he stretched her to fit his cock. Seeing her face that night had sent him close to the edge. Now she thought he was different, because his desire lurked close to the surface, threatening to spill over.
They ended up at the pub they visited the first night Shiya arrived. Kotori sat on the opposite side of the table from her to keep his hands to himself. He ordered a beer for himself and a hot cocoa for Shiya. They sipped in silence until Birk came. His friend took the seat next to Shiya and ran the back of his hand along her cheek. The move demonstrated possessiveness, and Kotori wished he could be so free to touch without risking so much.
“So why are you two talking to me after what happened?” she asked. “You know who I am, and Joe tried to kill you—” She gasped. “I can’t believe I didn’t ask about your arm, Kotori. Are you okay?”
“Is a cut worse than being dead?” He didn’t know where the bitterness came from and put it down to her mentioning the man they had left in her room with her. Kotori didn’t smell the guy’s scent on her, so he was sure nothing had happened between them.
At his words, Shiya flinched, and Birk glared at him. “Cool it, Kotori. That’s not what we’re here for.”
Kotori drained his beer and ordered another.
Shiya took a sip from her mug and set it down with care. Her big brown eyes focused first on Birk and then him. “I guess we’re all here because there’s something between us we haven’t finished exploring. Am I right?”
Kotori hadn’t begun to get to know her body yet.
“I guess you can put it that way,” Birk agreed.
Birk leaned in close to her until his lips came just short of brushing hers. The full, soft lips invited Kotori from across the table. He shifted in his seat, trying to find space in his jeans for his cock.
From what Kotori could figure out since she’d said her brother visited, he wanted results, and he would not accept that Shiya brought him none. That probably also meant they were close—too close. His and Birk’s idea to get Shiya out of Juneau was a good plan. They would make sure no one followed. The cabin they’d visited the last couple of days wouldn’t work for their purposes. The one no one knew about, far north, into the area few humans ventured, would work better.
Relief flooded Shiya’s expression, and she smiled. Kotori felt like the sun shined in the restaurant, and he coughed to clear his throat. Birk appeared also to have trouble containing himself. Was she really their . . . No, he couldn’t bring himself to admit it, even in his mind.
Shiya laid a hand on Birk’s and one on Kotori’s. He turned his palm faceup and laced his fingers with hers. He felt the shiver pass along her arm and stroked a thumb over her skin. The warmth there intrigued him, and he breathed in her scent. Next to her, his friend caught it too. Shiya wanted them. She could not fake it if she tried, but she wasn’t trying to. Her mission included seducing them. Theirs involved enjoying every inch of her incredible body and then waiting for the others to come so they could destroy the hunters. Shiya would not admit to the truth, and they chose not to enlighten her to the fact that her brother and whoever the rest of the hunters were had underestimated the Alaskan shifters. They would not live to regret it.
“So do we want to use my place?” she offered. “Or one of yours? I think you said you live in the borough, Kotori? No, you said you don’t.” She frowned.
Birk chuckled. “We’ll handle everything. You be ready for us when we come. We won’t stay at your suite this time. We don’t want to be interrupted.”
