Escaping Love (3 page)

He turned to face her. Jesus
, his front was impossibly better. Definition lined every muscle, starting from his peck, down his washboard abs, to rest at the V where his jeans met the lickable perfection of his upper body. Men were actually built this way? Even Carlos, the one that took her v-card, seemed to be lacking. 

“
Somethin’ wrong with your vittles?”

Promptly closing her gaping mouth, she scrunched her for
ehead. “Vittles?”

He crossed his god-like arms over his chest
, and his lips twitched. “Yeah, vittles. Your food.”

“
Er… No everything looks great. Thanks. By the way, I’m sorry for being—”

“Prickly?”

“No.”

“Ungrateful?”

“No.” She stomped her foot. “Grumpy, the word I’m looking for is grumpy.”

“Not much of a
mornin’ person, are you?”

“No.”

“That the only word you know? You would think after sleeping for thirty-six hours straight you would have waked up refreshed.”

“No, it’s not the only word I know. What do you mean I’ve been asleep for thirty
-six hours?”

“Good thing you’re so dar
n cute, otherwise I might take your attitude personal. It’s a good thing I’m such a nice guy too. Any other male might have taken advantage of your unmated, unchaperoned state.”

Narrowing her eyes at his suggestive tone, she set her tray down on the table and stepped toward him
, pointing her finger like a dagger.

“You’re a nice guy—”

“You think so, huh? Glad to hear it.”

She growled at him and spoke through clenched teeth. “Will you please stop interrupting me? What I was trying to say was
even though you’re a nice guy, if you had touched me, you would’ve come back with a bloody stump. In the event I didn’t kill you, the queen would have punished you for breaking the law of Hospitality.”

“Whoa there
, Little Cat, don’t get your panties in a twist. I would never dishonor myself by breaking the law of Hospitality.
You
didn’t ask for it. I only know your name. You passed out before I got your reason for crossing the Clan territories.”

Crap.
Could he be right? The events from her first night were a bit fuzzy. Her exhaustion must have been worse than she wanted to admit. She lost the men her father sent after her somewhere in New Mexico, buying some time and much needed distance. They could be closing in even now. By now more Clans would have learned of her absence and would send their own people after her. If they found her first they wouldn’t have to lessen their wallets to gain the influence from her rarity. But the only thing she could think about now was him referring to her currently absent underwear.

“Don’t think for a second you have any effect on my panties.”

Placing the pan on the stove and locking their gazes and stalked toward her. For the first time in her life she felt like prey. Suppressing a shiver, she held her hand up to hold him at a distance. But he just kept coming, invading her space and her senses. He was so close to making contact, but he stopped, keeping them bare millimeters apart. His breath caressed the sensitive skin of her neck, sending delicious chills down her spine straight to her core.

“You can be grumpy and rude
, but don’t lie to me. Ever.”

A part of her wanted to claw at him for daring to challenge her but another small part wanted to close the distance between them and see if all the heat radiating between them was real or just her imagination.

In a voice she didn’t recognize she squeaked, “Then why did you bring me home?”

For a moment he seemed just as confused as her
, then he rolled his shoulders. “I guess I could have just left you on the bar floor, but that just didn’t sit right with me.”

She tilted her chin
, still maintaining eye contact.

“Now what is your C
lan name?”

She parted her lips to tell him anything, everything he wanted to know. The command in his voice made her toes curl into the floor. But she fought the impulse to surrender.

“I request Hospitality until the time I have a chance to plead my case with the queen.”

Unease filled her
–he seemed to see more than she wanted to reveal. Seconds, hours, days seemed to pass before he increased the span between them and spoke.

“Granted.
As the Beta to the Koning Clan it is my responsibly to see to your safety until the queen returns.”

“Returns
? How long will she be gone?”

He shrugged.

“Great.”

Hopelessness hung in the air like smoke, smothering her very breath. She couldn’t stay here. Her father’s men would find her soon. If not them
, then the others would come. She shuddered.

Maybe she should tell him
part of the truth, enough to keep him safe when they found her, if they hadn’t already succeeded. They could be waiting in the forest watching, biding their time to drag her back to her life of servitude. She sat down with deep sigh and started to eat her cold breakfast. If she had to run again, then she could at least be full.

~***
*~

He hid his grin. She thought he couldn’t smell the panic and slight arousal coming off her in waves. The little cat had a secret. Little did she know, he knew she was Alexandria Aurora Abigail Santos, the legendary white panther, first to be born in several hundred years. Her father was the Santos Clan leader and friends with Gryph.

After he placed her in his bed he’d discreetly looked into her identity
, making him glad he’d gone with his gut to keep her close. Rumors of her going missing spread through their world like a forest fire. Little miss, the predator, became the prey for every Clan when she left her father’s territory. Clint planned on doing the right thing and returning her to her family, safely, unharmed, and untouched. Now he couldn’t. She invoked Hospitality, becoming his problem until Gryph and Jenny returned home.

Fuck
. She probably had people tracking her, some friendly, some not so much.  Scrubbing a hand down his face, he faced the reality of how much shit she just piled up at his door. He needed more coffee. Maybe some whiskey. 

The sound of her chewing like a cow grated on his frazzled nerves. His back ached from his not
-so-comfy coach. He barely slept a wink. The way she tossed and turned between his sheets while she let out soft, contented sighs of pleasure didn’t do much for his raging hard-on either. God, what he would give to have her make that noise as he seated himself deep inside her pussy.

There went his over
-eager cock ready to offer its assistance.

The world went quiet. Damn.
Something was wrong.
Danger
. He slipped on his shirt, pulled his socks and boots on his feet. He needed to find out exactly what had the animals in the forest spooked enough to go quiet. Something or someone was on the hunt.

“Do you have to chew so loudly?”

She swallowed the mound of food and followed it with half a glass of fresh-squeezed OJ. Giving him a sickeningly sweet smile, she piled on as much pancake as the fork could handle without collapsing under the weight. Then she filled her pretty pink mouth to the brink of exploding and proceeded to chew. Pieces fell out on the table, and she grinned like an idiot.

For some unknown reason he found her little show adorable. He turned before she could see his smirk.

“Fine, I’ll put on some music to drown you out.” Partially telling the truth, he flipped on Rascal Flats to cover the noise he was about to make and announced, “I’m gonna grab a shower, honey. Be out in a bit.”

She waved at him dismissingly
. “Whatever, have fun.”

The
Little Cat needed an attitude adjustment; a spanking would do the trick. He doubted she’d ever had one. The idea of her ass up in the air while her round little cheeks burned from his attentions made his already hard cock pulse with need. It really was too bad he couldn’t shower and take the edge off. He’d used it as an excuse to leave the room. He didn’t want to alarm her if it wasn’t necessary.

Walking to his bathroom
, he turned on water, using the sound to back up his cover story and strolled into his room. He grabbed his bug-out bag. He had it just in case the proverbial shit hit the fan. Now despite Gryph’s teasing he was glad he had it. He stepped into the living room, walking up to the still eating Alex. He went to alert her to the danger when a knock sounded at the door.

Alex stood
, nailing him right in the chin.

“
Ow,”she complained, “what are you doing out here anyway? I thought you went to shower.”

“I needed something from the kitchen. Good thing too
. Looks like we have a guest.”

“R
eally, you were going to shower?” Sarcasm dripped from her words. She took in the sight of his bag and weapons strapped to his torso. “Yeah, okay, Rambo.”

He placed his gear out of sight behind the couch. “Go get your shoes on.”

She didn’t move.

“Now.”

“Fine.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. I
f she wanted to see this whole Hospitality thing to its end, she needed to start listening to him before she got them both killed. Palming his Glock, he opened the door. He never would have never guessed who was behind his door.

Why did males have to be so darn bossy? First her father, now she had a sexy lupine telling her what to do. She sat on the edge of his bed and fished her boots out from beneath the edge. With a brisk puff of air, she blew her bangs from out of her eyes and noticed some framed photographs on top of his dresser.

Her boots snugly on her feet, she rose and decided to see who was important enough in Cowboy’s life to rank a photo in his room. Biting her lip
, she braced herself. Why it mattered? She didn’t know. The first was of a woman probably in her sixties with graying hair. She looked fit and completely at ease next to the several hundred pound animal standing next to her.

Horses.
Alex never really got the appeal. She didn’t like the smelly beasts, and they sure as hell didn’t like her. She’d like to think it was her cat they didn’t really like but she had her doubts. The next photo was of her Cowboy a little too close to a leggy redhead. Typical. Both seemed to be laughing while sitting side by side on a white porch swing. Wait, did she just think of him as hers?

A low growl rolled in from the living room
, startling her enough so she almost dropped the photo. Placing it back in its spot, she hurried to investigate just in time to catch the name being spat from Clint’s lips.

“Kane.”

Tension rolled off of the males so thick she may have needed a chainsaw just to make it into the living room. She’d be an idiot to not realize the black-haired male was not welcome.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in
, Hillbilly?”

They seemed to be having a silent conversation consisting of chest
-puffing and the bearing of teeth.

God
, males can be so ridiculous
.

Shaking her head, she stepped into the room.
“Now Cowboy, didn’t your mother ever teach you not to be rude to guests?”

Not taking his
gaze off of Kane he answered, “He’s not a guest, he’s a trespasser.”

The male crossed the threshold and whispered barely
loud enough for her to hear, “Shoot me with the gun in your hand and you’ll never know why I’m here. I swear on my honor I’m not here to take the girl.”

“You have no honor.”

Kane’s lips formed something she would imagine was a pained smile.

“That may be true most of the time, but today you would be wrong. It could cost you both your lives.”

Clint seemed to consider the stranger’s words and finally closed the door. “You better make it fast. My trigger finger is a little itchy.”

Kane clicked his tongue, “That’s no way t
o thank me.”

“For what?”
Clint scoffed. “Gracing me with your offensive presence or ruining my morning shower?”

“Be nice or I won’t tell you who or what are waiting in the forest.”

Alex placed her hand on Clint’s shoulder, stopping his lunge. She didn’t acknowledge the electricity running through her arm or the way he seemed to relax beneath her touch.

“I think we should listen, and thank you for coming to our aid.” Something like
gratefulness flashed in the man’s coal black eyes. He dipped his head and continued.

“There are a total of five men; three are shifted into their beasts. From the scent I could gather, they are all jackals.”

Even Alex knew what that meant.
Mercenaries
.