She drove her fingers through her hair and pulled at the strands to ease some of the pressure on her skull. “There are no such things as shapeshifters.”
Vlad’s expression turned thoughtful. “My sister…she was pretty terrified when she saw me shift, but… Rose, I don’t want to scare you, but I need you to believe me. For our daughter’s sake. If you’ll allow me, I’ll shift for you so you can see I’m telling the truth.”
Chapter Two
Vlad held his breath as he waited for her answer. This was a harsh way to introduce her to the tiger shifter world. If he had more time, he’d go slowly, ease her into the reality she had to face. Unfortunately, now that his brothers were on Rose’s trail, he didn’t have that kind of time.
He really, really hoped if she said yes, the shift didn’t send her into hysterics. Rose had never been the hysterical type. She was an adrenaline junkie and usually thrilled at the strange and exciting. But this… This kind of thing could bring the most stable human to the brink of a breakdown.
He’d admired his half sister Nila’s ability to stay standing after she’d seen him shift. Rose was going to need that kind of fortitude. The woman he loved, the woman he’d been in love with for years, was strong enough. But he hadn’t seen Rose in so long, he wasn’t sure he even knew her anymore.
The fact that she’d tossed him on his ass and then slapped him when he’d been a bastard assured him she was at least a little like the Rose he’d known.
She stared at him, and he held her gaze. A safer place to look than any other part of her. And even that wasn’t exactly safe. But every time he let his gaze move lower than her face, he got distracted. He was here to protect her and Zoe, but he’d wanted Rose from the first moment they’d met and that desire hadn’t gone away—not even when he’d thought she’d cheated on him.
Watching her, taking in her delicious scent—a mix of lavender and cardamom and her basic essence—left him a little breathless and a lot needy. His body buzzed with the desire to tug her close and feel every sexy inch of her pressed up against him, to taste her and savor the rasp of her tongue against his as he kissed her deeply enough to make them both forget the past. Just looking into her eyes sent his heartbeat racing. He wanted things he wasn’t going to get right then. Maybe not ever if she couldn’t forgive him. But that didn’t seem to stop the wanting, or the rush of lusty fantasies dancing through his mind.
He reined in his wayward imagination. If he focused on her beautiful face and extremely angry expression, he could keep his mind—mostly—on the subject at hand.
Mostly.
Her eyes narrowed, and for a brief moment, he wondered if she realized what he was thinking. Could she tell he was having trouble keeping his hands to himself? Then she shook her head, and he realized she wasn’t going to allow him to shift. His heart sank. If she wouldn’t face his tiger, he wasn’t sure how he’d convince her of his story.
“I can’t believe I’m going to agree to this,” she said.
He blinked, not sure he’d heard her right.
“But when you attempt this ‘shift’ and fail, you will get out of my house and never return. Do you understand me? I will not have this crap around my daughter.” She raised a hand when he opened his mouth. “I will make sure your equally crazy brothers get nowhere near us. Thanks for the warning.”
“Rose—”
“Get on with it. And don’t wake up Zoe.” She waved her hand in an impatient gesture before crossing her arms again.
He had to force down a smile. So much fire. He’d always loved that about her. His heart thumped harder as memories of her bringing that passion and fire to their bed pushed to the front of his mind. “I’ll have to take my clothes off first,” he warned.
He watched something move through her beautiful blue eyes, and again he was tortured by images of having her under him, being inside her, swallowing her moans as he fucked her. Her scent was intoxicating. The flavors went right to his head, leaving him a lot warmer than the mild Arizona winter day warranted. Mixed with that scent was all her anger, but it wasn’t nearly the distraction it should have been. He’d expected her anger. He hadn’t expected to have so much trouble keeping his lust in check.
“I need to make sure Zoe is asleep,” she said and hurried away.
But not before he caught the faintest hint of desire in her scent—a whisper of it, but it was there. Hope he hadn’t dared feel before roared to life. He tamped it down with ruthless will. He couldn’t afford those feelings or that hope now. First, he had to keep Rose and Zoe away from his brothers. He had to help Zoe. And he had to figure out how to keep them both safe.