Romance: Auctioned To The Panther: BBW Dragon Shifter Romance Standalone (Wild Shifters Book 2) (4 page)

After a moment, Christian shifted beside her and then propped himself up on his elbows, looking far too seriously at her. “Are you all right?” he asked concernedly.

Grace giggled. “I'm a bit better than all right,” she answered, yawning. She stretched widely and then settled back against the bed. “That was amazing.”

Christian smiled at that and pulled her into his arms. “So we can do it again sometime then, hmm?”

Grace giggled again and pressed back, aligning her back along his torso and fitting their legs together. “Mmm, yeah, I think we'd better,” she agreed.

Chapter Four

Over the next week and a half, Grace continued to improve in health, bruises fading. Her sleep was no longer interrupted by nightmares about her ordeal, something which she was grateful of. She and Christian grew closer and closer, sharing many more nights of passionate sex.

They fell into an easy cadence around the house as well, with Grace reading or surfing the internet in Christian's office while he worked during the days. They shared every meal, and every night, they shared a bed.

Grace thought it was a bit odd how comfortable they were with each other, but she really was starting to believe that maybe there was some truth in the idea of soulmates after all. There was just something inside herself that responded to him (plus, okay, the sex was amazing too!)…

She was actually feeling amazingly good, but was still prolonging her time there at the mansion at Christian's insistence. He really wanted to keep her safe for as long as Liam and his henchmen were still out there. Until the authorities apprehended them, well… Grace was more than happy to stay there with Christian.

She had written to her office and told them that some personal things had come up and that she'd be out for the next couple weeks and they'd told her that one of the interns could cover for her and she should take all the time that she needed.

That Thursday as they finished their breakfasts (they had yet to have breakfast at the table; Grace was getting way too spoilt by all this), Christian cleared his throat to get Grace's attention. She turned a sweet smile on him, and he smiled back a little bit, but his face stayed mostly serious. “There's a... socialites' event this evening,” he said, looking like it pained him to say it.

Grace wasn't entirely sure what her facial expression was, but she knew she felt some combination of panicked and angry and generally unhappy. “And?” she bit out, wondering why he had to bring it up just when she was feeling good.

Christian sighed and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her back against him where he leant against the headboards. “And,” he said, “I have to go to it, unfortunately. As you know, I generally avoid these things, but I have this business deal to close and if I can network successfully and get this guy Wes Orlovsky on my side, I should be able to seal it by the end of the week. Then we could spend the whole weekend as we please.”

Grace buried her face against his side, breathing in his scent. “Fine,” she grumbled. “Go out and have your fun. Maybe I'll head home for the night?” She didn't know what possessed her to say that—of course they were going to have to spend some time apart at some point; it didn't mean she had to go and get jealous about it.

She couldn't even really pin her finger on just what it was that was making her jealous—but maybe it was more that she was frustrated that she was stuck there in the house while he went gallivanting around parties trying to impress people and score great business deals.

“Hey,” Christian said, moving her so that they were looking at one another face-to-face. He brushed her hair back. “I'd like you to be here when I come back. Do you know how lonely my whole evening will feel if I have to go out and socialize at this thing and then I come home to an empty bed?” He paused. “Actually, though...” He shook his head. “No, sorry, I shouldn't ask.”

“What?” Grace asked suspiciously. When he didn't respond, she pushed at him a little. “Come on, you started to ask; just say it. I won't get upset.”

Christian ran a hand back through his hair. “Well, actually, I was going to ask if you would join me. Just hear me out for a second, okay?” He waited until Grace nodded before continuing. “See, I think this could be good for both of us: on the one hand, your showing up with me sends a message to everyone at the party that you're off-limits and they're not to mess with you again.

And I think it could help you regain some of your confidence maybe, show yourself that what they did to you doesn't matter. Just have a fun time. On the other hand, having someone as attractive and funny as you could really help me charm Orlovsky—and as I said, then we could spend the weekend having fun.”

That was a needlessly confusing way of saying it, and he hoped she understood what he meant a little better than he'd phrased it. The thing was, he just really wanted her to be there at his side—but he had a feeling it was too early in their courtship for him to say things like that.

Grace chewed on her bottom lip, thinking it over. “But everyone at the party, they'd all know you bought me, right? I don't want to look like...look like I condone that.” Or like she really
did
belong to him! A horrible thought hit her: had Christian been tricking her this whole time? Maybe he really did just want her as a sex slave and now he was going to bring her to this event to flaunt it.

“Oh sweetheart,” he murmured, pulling her in close. He held her left hand in his and stroked her hair gently and soothingly. “Most of the people at this event won't know that I bought you,” he said. “The people who were at the last party...they're not the normal crowd. Part of why I didn't know this whole thing was happening to begin with; I get the feeling that those sorts of...activities only happen at parties that most of the elite crowd don't attend.”

He sighed. “Anyway, if anyone has anything to say about it, I'm going to give them a very strong piece of my mind. You're gorgeous and you're smart and you're funny, and I won't let anyone convince you otherwise.” He pulled back, a wicked grin on his face. “Anyways, I've already picked out a beautiful dress for you to wear.”

It was such a perfect dress too, Christian had to say. It was long and elegant but also incredibly sexy with the way it would hug her figure and the crisscrossed straps that laced back and forth across it, accentuating her curvy shape and hinting at a bit of bondage without being too over-the-top.

He of course didn't want to give the impression that he owned her or anything, but he imagined that some thin, snaking straps going around her form would be absolutely stunning on her. Whatever the case, he couldn't wait to see her in it.

Grace felt her heartbeat pick up and felt the color drain out of her face. This was turning a little too much into exactly what Liam had done to her… Before she realized it, she was shaking her head and scrambling across the bed away from Christian. “No,” she begged. “No, no, no. Please, no. I don't–I don't want to.”

Christian blinked at the strength of her reaction and backed slowly off the bed, palms held out to his side where she could see that he meant her no harm. “I'm sorry,” he said, feeling awful. Of course she wouldn't want to go to this stupid event, and it was wrong of him to pressure her to. Not that he'd intended to pressure her, but… Well, he'd screwed this whole thing up now.

“Grace,” he said quietly, still keeping his arms out, “I
don't
want to hurt you.” He kept his tone low and even. “If you don't want to come with me to the party tonight, that's perfectly all right—you don't have to come.

I'll do my best to close the deal and we can still take the weekend to be together, just the two of us. If that's what you want. If you'd rather-” He swallowed, shaking his head and trying for a moment to ignore the panther side of himself.

“If you'd rather go home, I won't stop you,” he told her, even though that was the last thing he wanted. He could only hope that he'd already made enough of an impression on her that even if she went home, she'd come back. Otherwise, he'd just have to find her again.

Grace took a couple deep breaths, willing herself to calm down, reminding herself that this was Christian and he was nothing like Liam. He was sweet and he was cute and he'd brought her breakfast in bed and he paid attention to her needs and he was always so concerned about her, even when it should've been obvious that all she was feeling was blissed out. She knew deep in her heart that this man wasn't out to hurt her—and if he wanted to take her to a party, it was just for the reasons that he said, not because he wanted to show off a new toy or something dark like that.

“Sorry,” she said quietly, looking down at the bedspread. “I'm just...I don't know if I'm ready for that yet.”

“You don't need to be,” Christian soothed. “I shouldn't have expected you would be. I mean, I asked partly out of selfish reasons: I'd like you to be there tonight so I have someone I can talk to who isn't so...stuffy.” He smiled at her and carefully walked around the bed to her, going slow so as not to startle her.

When he sat beside her, Grace immediately buried her face in his neck, clinging half-desperately to him. “I'm still so scared that Liam is going to...to...”

“I'd like to kill him for what he's done to you,” Christian said fiercely, tightening his arms around her. “But that might make my position in the town a bit...awkward, to say the least.”

Grace laughed a little and pulled back, looking searchingly up at Christian. “You're sure you're not angry that I won't go with you tonight?” she asked fretfully.

“Absolutely not at all,” Christian promised. “In fact, I'd be angrier if you were scared like this but came along with me anyway. I just want you to feel comfortable, Grace, do you understand that? I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to do—I mean that. You need to let me know what your limits are—I don't know them yet, but as soon as you don't like something and you let me know, I'll make sure to change the situation, okay?”

“Thanks,” Grace whispered, wiping away a couple stray tears. She laughed quietly. “You're really nice to me—one of the nicest people I've met, really. I don't know that much about you, but you seem like a really good guy.” She quirked a smile. “Even if you do habitually hang out with people involved in trading sex slaves.”

Christian shook his head, expression hardening. “Believe me when I say I wish I had never met any of those...monsters,” he muttered. “The sooner they get locked away, the better I'll feel—even if all my business deals collapse in the process!”

Grace smiled, glad she'd found someone so ready to keep her safe. Christian was a real knight in shining armor—not something Grace ever would've expected for her life.

She didn't totally feel safe yet—certainly not safe enough that she wanted to attend another society party any time soon—but she couldn't deny that it felt like he would protect her against any threat. It was a heady feeling.

Chapter Five

That evening, though, watching as Christian prepared to go out to the event, Grace felt a stab of wistfulness pass through her. It really would be nice to get out of the house for once, and Christian looked absolutely amazing in his suit.

Grace couldn't help but feel jealous as she thought of the women who would be falling all over him the whole night. Christian would flirt back, she assumed: after all, there was no harm in flirting, and that was just what men at those sorts of events did. Especially since the women would be no less attractive.

“Uh oh,” Christian said as he straightened his tie, meeting her eyes in the bedroom mirror. He turned to face her where she sat on the bed. “Based on your face, I'd say you're not feeling so good about this whole thing?”

Grace blushed and picked at the bedcovers, frowning. “It's not that,” she mumbled, embarrassed at having been so transparent. “Just...”

“You don't want me to go,” Christian surmised, hands already moving to undo his tie. “That's fine, sweetie—all you had to do was say so. I don't want to leave you here if you feel unsafe or uncomfortable or whatever else.”

“No, it's not that,” Grace said. “What about your business deal, anyway? I thought you had to go to this thing.”

Christian sighed. “I sort of do. Trust me when I say, I'd much rather spend the evening here with you.” He turned her face up towards his and leant in to kiss her gently. “But if you feel that uncomfortable with the situation, I'll call Orlovsky and tell him that I'm sick or whatever and that we'll need to do this another time.

That'll probably have to be this weekend because he'll be leaving town on Monday, but...we'll figure it out. You don't need to worry about that;
screw
the business deal. Your safety and wellbeing are more important to me; there are plenty of other business deals I could make and you, on the other hand, are-” He stopped himself just short of saying that she was his mate; that was a conversation for a different time, and he didn't want to frighten her off.

Grace shook her head. “I was thinking more that...that maybe I should come with you?” She took a deep breath. “I...can't promise that I'll be okay, though.” Her forehead wrinkled adorably as she thought it through. “I mean, how awkward is it going to look if you get me into the middle of this thing and I have a full-blown panic attack? Maybe I shouldn't go, I don't know. I–“

Christian snorted and pressed a finger to her lips to silence her. “If you're not comfortable with this, it's fine,” he said. “As I said earlier, I just want you to feel comfortable.”

Grace shrugged and stood. “Yeah, well, hiding away for the rest of my life isn't going to make me feel any safer,” she said boldly, tossing her head with a bit of fake bravado that Christian easily saw through.

He really admired the woman's courage and strength. “Well, if you're sure,” he said, shrugging. It was, after all, her decision: for all that Christian wanted to keep his mate safe, he also didn't want to stifle her, and if she wanted to do this, that was her decision.