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“Friends, then.” Abena patted Boone’s chest through his jacket. “Come now, I insist you bring your Hedra to the party. I won’t take no for an answer, Mr. Jameson.”
Camilla grinned smugly at him. Inwardly cursing his tiger, Boone said, “Sure. I know Hedra would love to meet you.”
“Perfect.” Abena glanced across the room before waving at someone. “I must go. That dreadful Jillian from the marketing department has been trying to speak with me all night, and I can’t avoid it any longer. Camilla, make sure you let Frederick know that we’ll have one more for the party.”
“I will, Abena,” Camilla said with a wide grin.
Abena left, and Camilla turned that wide grin to Boone.
“I look forward to meeting your,” she hesitated, her smile turning smug again, “girlfriend, Boone.”
His smile was more of a grimace. “I’m looking forward to introducing her to you.”
CHAPTER 6
Boone hurried into the house. The prescreening and fan party had gone longer than planned, and it was nearly eight-thirty. He’d texted Hedra about being late, and she didn’t seem to have an issue with him being late or cooking dinner for his nan, but he didn’t want her to think he was taking advantage of her.
He dropped his keys on the side table before heading to the living room. He could hear the television blaring and smell popcorn. Both his stomach and his tiger grumbled. He hadn’t eaten since lunch, and he was starving. He hoped there were leftovers from dinner.
He walked into the living room, and his tiger growled so loudly that Boone winced. Hedra and his nan sat in the middle of the leather sectional. A leopard shifter with a stooped back and thinning hair sat on the other side of Nan, their hands linked. But it was the lynx shifter sitting too close to Hedra that made Boone’s tiger surge forward.
Last week, after speaking to his nan, who’d been surprisingly agreeable to trying again, Boone found a new physiotherapist. A lynx shifter named Jerome with an affable and laidback personality. So far, nothing Boone’s nan had said to the physiotherapist had upset him, and Boone was incredibly grateful for how much progress Jerome had made with Nan in just the last week.
Of course, that was before Boone had walked into his living room to the stink of Jerome’s lust for Hedra. His tiger growled another warning, and his fury over Jerome’s interest in Hedra was like hot coals in Boone’s stomach.
The lynx stiffened slightly, studying Boone before smiling. “Boone, hey, how are you?”
“What are you doing here?” Boone said. “My nan’s physio appointment finished at five.”
“Boone, don’t be rude,” Hedra said. “We invited Jerome to have dinner and watch a movie with us.”
She smiled at Jerome, and his tiger’s jealousy could hardly be contained. Fuck, forget his tiger, Boone’s jealousy was a raging fire in his brain.
“Look at how handsome you are in your tux,” Nan said. “Boone, this is -”
Boone couldn’t stay in the room a second longer, even if it meant being rude to Nan. He stalked out of the living room before he did something stupid like mark Hedra or murder Jerome and stomped to the kitchen. He gripped the counter and stared out the window, breathing deeply as his tiger snarled and growled.
She’s ours! He was touching her, and she’s ours!
Hedra isn’t ours. Calm down.
Christ, trying to calm his tiger when he was this riled up was nearly impossible.
His tiger growled again. We need to mark her before he does. She isn’t safe until we mark her.
His tiger’s jealousy and anxiety made it hard for Boone to think rationally. It couldn’t hurt to mark Hedra, right? She was only human, and the world was a dangerous place. Marking her would keep her safe from other shifters. Coop did it all the time with his mate. Why shouldn’t Boone do the same?
Because Hedra isn’t your mate.
He ignored his inner voice. What did it know? His tiger was right. Hedra needed to be protected. The easiest way to do that when Boone wasn’t around was by marking her.
He could hear Jerome and Hedra’s voices in the hallway as Hedra walked Jerome to the front door, and his tiger roared and demanded Boone join them. He clung to the sliver of common sense he still had and stayed in the kitchen, his hands gripping the sink and his tiger roaring and growling continuously.
Boone’s superb hearing meant he had no problem hearing Jerome ask Hedra out on a date. His tiger roared again, the sound filling Boone’s ears and brain until he could hear nothing else. He squeezed the sink, fighting his tiger’s push for control. If he let his tiger out now, the damn thing would attack Jerome. Sweat dripped down his back as his tiger fought bitterly against him until, with a snarl of disappointment, he retreated.
Boone had no idea how much time passed, it could have been five minutes or five hours, but when he smelled Hedra’s scent in the kitchen, he whipped around to face her. His tiger made another push for control, and Boone fought him back, but refusing his tiger’s need to mark Hedra wasn’t possible. Not when Boone wanted to mark her just as badly.
He strode forward jerkily, like a puppet on a string. Hedra stared calmly at him. “Boone, you need -”
