“Yes,” she admitted. Not that she had much choice when her stomach gave a loud growl.
“How about a grilled cheese, and tomato soup?”
“You cook?”
He sent her a startled glance, the agonizing pressure in his chest faintly easing. Her teasing might be forced, but it proved she hadn’t completely decided to hate him.
“Only the basics,” he warned, spooning the soup into bowls as he finished browning the sandwiches and slid them onto paper plates. They were far from perfect. One side was too dark and the other barely toasted. But he couldn’t deny a strange surge of pure joy as he watched her sip the soup and take a large bite of the grilled cheese. Ignoring his own food, he leaned his elbows on the counter and studied her with blatant pleasure. “To be honest, I rarely get the chance. Now I’m starting to understand why it makes my mother so happy.”
She glanced up in confusion. “You are?”
“I like taking care of you,” he told her in soft tones.
Her gaze dropped, a blush touching her cheeks. “I’m not a child.”
His lips twisted as the violent awareness he was desperately trying to keep leashed blasted through him.
“Believe me, Dr. Parker, I’m painfully aware you’re all woman.”
Her blush deepened, the pulse at the base of her neck fluttering.
Not fear.
Arousal.
She cleared her throat. “How long are we going to stay here?”
Unable to resist temptation, Lian reached out to touch his fingertips to that pulse, his cat purring at the blatant assurance she was far from indifferent to him.
“Until Raphael can send someone to escort us to the Wildlands.” His fingers drifted down to the loose neckline of her sweatshirt. Her warm, citrus smell filled the kitchen, making him instantly hard. “I’m not going to risk trying to move you without backup.”
She polished off her sandwich, trying to pretend her heart wasn’t racing as his finger slipped beneath her sweatshirt to trace the line of her collarbone.
“Why do you think they followed us?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? Their enemies had one purpose, and that was to return Shakpi fully to this world. So far they’d infiltrated the Wildlands, lured a handful of Pantera into becoming traitors, and tried to turn the humans against them. So attempting to predict their next move was enough to give any poor Hunter a headache.
He gave a frustrated shake of his head. “Maybe they hope to kidnap me to use as leverage in getting ahold of Shakpi. Or—”
“Or?” she prompted.
He hesitated before finishing his sentence. Sage was too intelligent not to reason out what was bothering him.
“It could be they’ve learned you hold the potential to translate the scrolls.”
“What if I can’t?” She bit her lip, the stunning gray eyes shadowed with fear.
Not for herself. But at the thought of failing his people.
With a smooth leap he was over the breakfast bar and pressing a finger to her lips.
“You will.”
“You can’t be sure,” she protested. “My skill with languages isn’t magic.”
His thoughts fragmented as his finger traced the full temptation of her lips.
There were a thousand reasons his thundering need to claim this female was a bad idea.
A demented goddess who might wake at any moment. Enemies who were even now searching for them. Sage’s potential position as Shaman.
Not to mention the fact that the female was still feeling vulnerable.
But nothing could convince his cat that she didn’t belong in his arms…oh hell, who was he kidding?
It wasn’t just his cat.
The man very much needed her stripped naked and spread beneath him.
“You’re magic,” he assured her, lowering his head to bury his face in the curve of her throat.
She lifted her hands to rest against his chest, but they didn’t try to push him away.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
He shuddered. The raw ferocity of his need was enough to scare him, let alone a poor female who couldn’t possibly understand how quickly a Pantera could become addicted to one special partner.
“I’m sorry.” He nipped at her tender flesh, his arms sliding around her to tug her off the chair and against his chest. “I know I keep pushing you, but my cat doesn’t understand why it can’t have a taste.”
She trembled, her head tilting back to give him greater access.
“A taste of me?”
A roar of approval rumbled in his chest at the open invitation, his tongue tracing the delicate line of her throat before he indulged in another nip.
The delicious, lemony taste of her exploded on his tongue. His hunger spiked. Oh, man. He was going to devour her.
“Maybe more than just a taste,” he warned, the image of her spread across the breakfast bar searing through his mind.
She grabbed his T-shirt, as if her knees were threatening to collapse.
“Lian,” she breathed.
He nuzzled the sensitive spot just below her ear. “Tell me no and I’ll stop.”
“And if I don’t say no?”
Chapter 5
Sage felt Lian stiffen, clearly shocked by her low words.
Hell, she was shocked.
She was the typical scholar.
Introverted, socially awkward, and embarrassingly timid when it came to flirting.
But somehow this man managed to bring out a side of her she didn’t even know existed.
When she was with Lian she wanted to be the sort of bold, daring, sexually exciting woman who could drive a man crazy. It didn’t make sense. Certainly not when they were virtually strangers.
But in this moment, she didn’t care.
She’d been alone for so long.
Too long.
Now her entire body hummed with a desire that she refused to deny.
Lifting his head, Lian searched her upturned face with a wary expression. She sensed that he expected her to have a sudden panic attack.
Not surprising.
She’d never been particularly courageous. Nothing at all like the Pantera females who he no doubt usually chose as his lovers.
The thought only stiffened her spine.
He gently cupped her cheek in his palm, his thumb stroking her lower lip.
“You’re stressed.”
His senses were too acute for her to lie.
“True.”
Regret scorched through his golden eyes. “And I’m taking advantage.”
She frowned, rebelling at the realization he thought she was too weak to say ‘no’ to his seduction.
Dammit.
She might not be Xena warrior woman, but she wasn’t spineless.
Fisting his shirt in her hands, she went on tiptoe to kiss him with a blatant need.
“I might not be a Pantera Hunter, but I’m not completely helpless,” she warned, biting his lower lip hard enough to make him hiss with pleasure. “If I wanted to stop you, I would.”
A sudden heat blasted from his body, his hesitation forgotten as his eyes glowed with a golden fire.
“Ah yes, I’d nearly forgotten your little trick of trapping me in that net.” A slow, sinful smile touched his mouth as his arms tightened around her. “Someday you’re going to pay for that.”
The tension that had gripped her since being forced from her home was seared away as she arched into the hard warmth of his body.
“It isn’t my only trick,” she whispered, rewarded for her bashful flirtation when he gave a soft purr of appreciation and abruptly swept her off her feet.
“I have a few of my own,” he promised, rubbing his cheek against the top of her head.
Sometimes he was such a cat.
“Where are we going?”
“I need to have you someplace more comfortable.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, vaguely aware of the glossy paneling and tiled floors as he headed toward the stairs at the back of the home. She’d already discovered when she went in search of the bathroom that the house was beautifully maintained, despite the appearance from the outside, with all the modern conveniences a person could want. Now she had far more important things to occupy her mind.
They entered the nearest bedroom that was decorated in a pale ivory and lilac. Without hesitation Lian was crossing the floor and lowering her onto the massive four-poster bed.
Sage’s heart thundered in her chest, the spicy scent of his musk stirring her arousal until she could feel a damp heat bloom between her legs.
Straightening, Lian stared down at her, his entire body Hunter-still as he studied her with a predatory gaze.
She shivered, her mouth dry. Everything about this man screamed danger, but she’d never been more excited in her life.
“You have me more comfortable,” she husked, the anticipation flowing through her like the finest aphrodisiac. “Now what are you going to do to me?”
“First I’m going to strip off these highly unnecessary clothes.”
Moving to plant one knee on the side of the mattress, Lian leaned down to grasp the hem of her sweatshirt, tugging it over her head with a smooth motion. He offered her a boyish grin of satisfaction as he easily performed the same service for the rest of her clothes, revealing that this was far from the first time he’d stripped a woman.
But once she was stretched naked on the lilac comforter his amusement faded, to be replaced with an expression of savage ferocity.
“Oh shit,” he muttered.
She licked her lips, struggling to breathe. God. She needed to feel his hands on her skin.
It was becoming a near painful force.