Lian gave in to the impulse to run his fingers down her cheek, savoring the warm satin of her skin. This female obviously had magic running through her veins.
But it was the fact she could detect the animal inside him that made his heart leap.
Could she be a Shaman?
The mere potential was a cause for celebration.
There was an elder Shaman at the Wildlands who had long ago retired, and of course, Chayton, who was now lying unconscious with an evil goddess trapped inside him. Neither had been capable of serving his people for the past thirty years.
To have a young, clearly healthy Shaman just when the Pantera could once again breed would be nothing less than a miracle.
Suddenly the need to get her to the Wildlands became even more vital.
“How do you see my cat?” he asked.
“I just…do.” She licked her lips, sending a jolt of white-hot excitement searing through Lian. Oh, hell. The things those lips could do to his body. “Is Xavier a cat as well?” she demanded.
He nodded. “Yes.”
She wrinkled her brow. “I’m surprised I didn’t suspect.”
Lian scowled. He didn’t know where the completely irrational stab of jealousy came from, but he sure as hell didn’t like the implication she knew Xavier well enough to suspect he wasn’t human.
Just how often had the two communicated?
“What do you know about my people?” he asked in abrupt tones.
“A great deal, actually.” She glanced toward the stacks of books, offering Lian the opportunity to appreciate the delicate perfection of her profile. “I’ve read a number of books that describe the Wildlands and the puma shifters who live there.”
“Do you know the legend of our creation?”
“There were two goddesses, Shakpi and Opela.” She turned back to meet his watchful gaze. “I believe there was some sort of rift between the two.”
His lips twisted.
Rift was a mild way of saying that Opela had sacrificed herself to lock her sister, Shakpi, in a prison so the crazy-ass bitch wouldn’t destroy the Pantera.
“You could say that.”
She tilted her head to the side, the end of her ponytail sliding over her shoulder.
Lian instinctively moved his hand to touch the silvery strands. Oh…man. It felt just like silk.
She stilled, but made no effort to pull away. “Are you a religious scholar?”
He gave a choked laugh. He fully admired the Geeks, but the thought of being stuck in a library or seated in front of a computer for endless hours gave him a brain cramp.
Give him open space, fresh air, and cunning prey to pursue and he was a happy cat.
Or give him a beautiful woman in his bed. Preferably one with silver-blonde hair and fascinating gray eyes rimmed with black.
“Hell to the no,” he assured her, his fingers sliding around her neck to cup her nape. The crisp scent of lemon teased at his senses, the smell oddly erotic to the cat that stroked against the inside of his skin. It wanted a taste of this female. “I’m a Hunter.”
“A Hunter?” She cleared her throat, pretending she wasn’t burning up with an arousal that matched his own. A wasted effort. Her need was obvious in the flush that stained her cheeks and darkened her eyes. Even if he wasn’t able to detect the sweet honey that was making her pussy slick and ready for his cock. “What does that mean?”
Maintaining his hold on her nape, he stroked his free hand down the curve of her spine.
“The obvious.” He tugged her tight against his stirring arousal, his head lowering to press his face into the curve of her neck. “I track my prey until I have them cornered.” He licked a rough path to the pulse that thundered at the base of her throat. “Then I pounce.”
She made a strangled sound of shocked pleasure, her hands grabbing his arms as if her knees had suddenly threatened to collapse.
“You’re in my personal space.”
He chuckled, rubbing his cheek against her smooth skin with a gesture that was pure feline.
“I’m deciding whether or not I intend to play with you before I pounce.”
He heard her breath catch, her body instinctively arching closer to the hard thrust of his cock.
“I’m not your prey,” she breathlessly protested.
Lian allowed his teeth to press into the flesh of her neck, not breaking the skin, but offering a warning.
He might be able to convince his cat to take the seduction of Dr. Sage Parker at a slower speed, but it wasn’t going to tolerate any denial of the desire that smoldered between them.
“Of course you are,” he growled. “I was sent to retrieve you.”
She shivered, her fingers tightening on his arms even as she gave a shake of her head.
“I told you,” she rasped. “I don’t travel.”
Muttering a curse, Lian lifted his head. As much as he wanted to toss this female on the bed and ease his throbbing cock deep inside her, he had to concentrate on fulfilling his duty.
They had to find some way to translate the newly discovered scrolls.
And for now, this woman was their only hope.
“And I told you. The future of the Pantera is depending on you,” he said.
She pulled from his lingering touch, her hand pressed to her chest as if trying to slow the pounding of her heart.
“What makes the scrolls so important?”
He hesitated before giving a small shrug. She’d have to know the truth eventually.
“We hope it can tell us how to kill Shakpi.”
Chapter 3
Sage felt the breath being wrenched from her lungs at the blunt explanation.
God almighty.
This was all happening too fast.
Her life was supposed to be a series of predictable, well-planned days that never varied.
She worked hard to make sure that there were no surprises.
Now her house had been invaded by a Pantera male. Her body was burning with an unfamiliar passion. She was being told she had to leave the safety of her house to travel to his homelands.
Then, to put icing on the crazy cake, he was implying that they needed her to translate a scroll that they hoped would kill a goddess…
Yeah. That tripped over the edge of what her poor brain could process.
“This isn’t funny—” she started to sputter.
“Trust me, I don’t joke about a psychotic goddess who’s determined to commit genocide,” he interrupted, his beautiful features grim.
Genocide?
She widened her eyes. “You suspect Shakpi is trying to destroy your people?”
“I don’t suspect it,” he snarled, the temperature of the room amping up a few degrees. Was the heat coming from Lian? “I know it.”
“How?”
“She told us.”
“Okay.” She took a step backward. Until this moment she’d been willing to play along. But when people started saying they’d spoken directly to a god or goddess, and claimed to have direct knowledge of their holy plans, she had to draw a line. “And people think I’m crazy.”
“I’m not crazy.” He stepped forward, grasping her chin in his hand. “Listen to me, Sage. I’m going to give you the condensed version of Pantera history and then we’re going to the Wildlands.”
“I told you—”
“Just listen,” he commanded, then, before she could remind him this was her house and she didn’t take orders from anyone, he was swiftly revealing the events of the past months.
She wanted to laugh at his absurd story.
To assure him that he was out of his mind and that he needed to return to his home. Without her.
But the words wouldn’t come.
Quite simply because she believed him.
Not only because of the sincerity in his voice, but because she’d always possessed the ability to sense when someone was telling her the truth.
She wasn’t a lie detector. Her gift wasn’t that precise. It was more an overall ‘feeling’ of honesty.
At last she gave a slow shake of her head and studied him with a growing sense of horror.
“You have a goddess locked in a shed in the Wildlands?” she breathed.
Lian turned to pace the worn floorboards, his movements possessing a fluid grace that no human male could match.
“Basically.”
She wrapped her arms around her waist. “And you want me to translate a scroll in the hopes that it will reveal how to kill her?”
He turned, his face hard with determination. “Or return her to her prison. If she awakens and escapes she’ll eventually discover a way to destroy us.” He held her gaze, as if daring her to deny the truth of his words. “It’s that simple.”
She chewed the inside of her lip. She believed him. She didn’t want to, but she did.
“You’ll have to bring the scrolls to me,” she at last conceded, holding up her hand as his lips parted in protest. “There are ways to ensure they’re transported without harm and I’ll need my research books to help with the translation.”
“No.”
Her brows snapped together. Annoying, arrogant…ass.
“You claim to need my help, then you go out of your way to be difficult,” she protested. “It isn’t logical.”
He moved back to stand directly in front of her, his potent male musk making it difficult to think about anything but ripping off his clothes and exploring every inch of his hard, bronzed body.
“We can’t allow the scrolls to leave the Wildlands when we’re surrounded by enemies,” he informed her.