Emily.
No. Aidan refused to equate the two. While shifters could have several mates in a lifetime, his inner cougar wasn’t cruel enough to make him want a human female. Humans were the ones who had stolen his mate from him in the first place.
As Aidan made the last turn and pulled into the back entrance to DarkStalker, he pushed all thoughts of mates, both former and future, out of his mind. Once he handed Claire over to Kian, he’d never see the female again. It would be easy enough to forget her.
Turning off the car, he ordered, “Stay inside and don’t take off the mask,” and exited before the human could speak. To clear his head, Aidan took in a deep inhalation of fresh air filled with scents of the surrounding forests and lake. He was home.
With his head cleared, he moved to the passenger side of the car and opened the door. While the top half of the female’s face was covered, he could see the grim line of her mouth, her plump lips tempting both man and cat to taste them.
Pushing aside his cougar’s desires, Aidan kept his tone brisk. “In case you haven’t figured it out, we’re here.”
Claire turned her head up in his general direction. “Can I take off my mask now?”
“No.”
She sighed. “Then how am I supposed to walk? And please don’t tell me you’re going to carry me because that’s not going to happen, buddy.”
When she slapped a hand over her mouth, Aidan struggled to keep his face neutral. Thankfully, more than twenty years of training won out. “I’ll guide you through the passageway.”
She removed her hand and revealed her pink, enticing lips again before raising a hand. “Thank you. I greatly appreciate your help.”
He resisted a growl. Her sudden politeness and distance grated against his inner cat.
Taking her hand, he pulled her up to her feet so fast she fell into him. As her soft breasts and belly pressed against his chest, a surge of heat shot straight to his cock. Images of Claire Davis naked and him caressing her skin as he sucked her hard nipple filled his mind.
The human’s heart rate kicked up and her voice was breathy when she finally spoke up. “Are we going to stand her all day or are we going?”
Her sass snapped Aidan out of his fantasy of taking long licks between Claire’s thighs. Afraid the human felt his hard cock pressing against his jeans, he stepped back and turned her until she stood next to his side. “Get ready to walk.”
With her hand on his arm and his other hand on her lower back, he pressed her forward. Her standing next to him was too close, and no matter what image he tried to recall to soften his cock, nothing worked. It seemed his cat wanted Claire Davis.
Not that he expected to find an answer in the five minutes it would take to bring Claire to his leader, Aidan ran through all the ways he could purge the human female from his system, because there was no way in hell he was going to pursue her, let alone fuck her. For once, his inner cat wasn’t going to get what he wanted.
Chapter Three
Claire knew she should be rehearsing the data one last time before meeting with DarkStalker’s leader, but all she could think about was the shifter at her side. In particular, her skin was still hot from falling against his chest. She only hoped that Aidan, let alone other shifters, couldn’t scent the betrayal of her body to his touch. Being aroused when she met Kian Murray wasn’t exactly what she’d planned.
Yet she couldn’t ignore the wetness between her thighs or Aidan’s strong hands as he guided her down a series of passageways. For such a tall, muscled man, his touch was delicate against her back.
Of course, it could be because he didn’t want to touch her, but she ignored that possibility. She would enjoy a few moments of a shifter’s strong touch because that would be all she would ever have.
Sure, she’d done what most teenage girls did and dreamed of having her own shifter to marry. By the time
Caroline Dries, Steve Dries