Heartmate Read Free

roseamber and redgold. All the jewelry she’d purchased had been at the least expensive end of his line. The pieces had also been some of his most original—and sensual.
    He wished he knew her name.
    From his pocket he pulled a long silver chain set with oddly shaped beads, and slid it through his fingers. It was designed to suspend a personal amulet. Some of the beads were round, some stone nuggets, and some faceted crystal. A simple piece with a small price, yet it was significantly superior in craftsmanship to the HeartGift.
    Zanth hopped up on the worktable and swatted the chain.
    T’Ash obligingly swung it. “The necklace is my gift to a mate, radiating my essence, and will draw her to me. We will have a woman living with us tomorrow. What do you say to that?”
    Zanth looked past the swinging chain and narrowed his jade-green eyes at the necklace. Mate prefer mouse. He turned his back on the HeartGift. Snagging a claw in the chain, he brought it to his mouth. This female. You play with her. Give toys.
    â€œYes, I make her jewelry.” T’Ash dropped the end of the chain. It rattled to the desk.
    Zanth tangled his paws in the chain and glanced sideways at T’Ash. This bauble was for her. She not take it.
    T’Ash shrugged. That he couldn’t consistently predict her taste intrigued him. Several pieces that he’d made especially to tempt her had been bought by others, or remained unsold—so Majo said.
    T’Ash had not asked her name. Instead it had been an increasingly enchanting game.
    A game once, but not now. She’d visit the shop tonight. He knew it by his sharpened senses and the deep expectation humming in his bones.
    Zanth snuffled. He’d picked up a sinus infection prowling the alleys of Downwind that T’Ash had been unable to treat. Zanth was not amenable to nosedrops in each nostril three times a day. Female. He looked at the necklace. Female’s scent improve it.
    T’Ash winced at his cat’s blunt remark.
    Females are soft laps. Will accept one in My domain. Provis-ion-al-ly. With that, Zanth gathered some of the beaded chain in his mouth and hopped from the table. The chain skittered on the floor as he turned and exited, tail high.
    T’Ash didn’t care to dwell on the thought of soft laps. He glanced at the HeartGift one more time and left it on his workbench. He needed more caff.
    The power from the necklace swirled around him. He felt it, and so would she, the passion that heralded a lifelong love, the deep yearning for one special person. The necklace would attract and affect only her. The vital sexuality as well as his basic nature portrayed in his HeartGift would snare her, and he would take her home. Simple. Easy.
    He had built a new Residence, a luxurious palace, after his final act of vengeance. Now he would have someone to share the echoing rooms with—a woman, a wife, a HeartMate.
    A fierce smile curved his mouth. Having a mate would be satisfying, as satisfying as the orderly life he’d so carefully crafted after long struggle.
    Today you will meet your HeartMate.
    With a sweep of his hand, he gathered the dice on his desk. Two bounced and fell to the floor, one cracking. He bent and his fingers stilled. Blaser rays surround a vulnerable woman. He picked up the die showing the woman.
    It fell to pieces.
    A woman in danger.
    His heart pounded like a hammer on an anvil. His Divination set, ruined. His lady, threatened. He’d put the violence—and the man he’d become seeking vengeance—behind him, but now his lady was endangered.
    Â 
Danith Mallow sidled to a corner of the elegant shop T’Ash’s Phoenix. Here a table draped in beige damask held a lovely china caff set. After selecting a mug, she picked up the t’pot, keeping an eye on the man behind the U-shaped counter. She was accustomed to the friendly Majo, the slight salesman who usually staffed the store.
    This man—it