Rafe Read online

  Rafe’s lion growled, not approving of Rafe’s thoughts. It had labeled Josh as competition for Jasmine, the female his cats had taken an interest in. They wouldn’t share her with another male.

  It didn’t seem to matter to the big cat that Jasmine was the feline scent-marked female Rafe had detected at the scene of the fire. His lion liked how she smelled. It wanted to get closer to her. Rafe ignored the animal, and its primitive response. He didn’t know the woman. He wasn’t about to fight over her.

  Another snarl echoed within him—his jaguar expressing its disagreement—and a swipe of his tiger’s claws raked along his insides. He swallowed a groan. Although he was immortal, being torn apart from the inside wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

  He snapped his teeth together and pushed against their forceful wills. One by one the animals abated, but he got the impression it wouldn’t take much to stir them.

  Ensured of his cats’ obedience, he slipped an arm around Jasmine’s waist, locking her to him. She leaned into his embrace, head tipped back to rest against his chest, as if she’d done so for a lifetime.

  The easy way she accepted him pushed Rafe to take more. With a palm on her hip, he tugged her closer, letting her feel how she affected him. She stiffened, then spun, her blonde hair whipping with the move.

  Beautiful. She was absolutely gorgeous. Gray eyes, a few freckles on the tip of a slightly crooked nose, and a mouth made for kissing. Her rounded face with its finely sloped forehead lent her an angelic quality. The desire stamped on her expression ensured she’d be the wicked kind of angel, given the proper encouragement.

  He had every confidence in his ability to bring out the vixen hidden behind her sweet exterior. A grin spread over Rafe’s face. Unveiling her inner temptress would be fun. He shouldn’t even be considering doing so. Not only wasn’t she his to touch, Jasmine might very well be a threat to Megan. The reminder dimmed his enthusiasm, but didn’t kill it. It only made him feel guilty for the lust.

  Jasmine shoved at his chest. He loosened his grip but didn’t release her. He couldn’t bring himself to do so. “Let go, buddy. We’re done.”

  “But you didn’t answer me.”

  “What did you ask?”

  “Am I hot enough for you?”

  Her jaw dropped, but the evidence of her desire hung heavy in the air around them. Her scent drew him. Tempted him.

  “Good.” He grinned. “I’m glad I fit your needs.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to.” He took her hand, linking their fingers, and led her away from her friend and the other humans’ appreciative glances. He wanted to talk to her alone. The sooner he learned her story, the better. She felt good in his arms. Right. He wanted to uncover the reason why.

  She hesitated at the entrance to the employee hallway. “What a sec, buddy. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “The name’s Rafe. Rafe Alexander. Not buddy.”

  She licked her lips. “Rafe.”

  His name sounded good in her breathless voice.

  “Jasmine.” He tried hers out. It rolled nicely on his tongue. “Walk with me.”

  She shook her head but didn’t tear her gaze from his. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  He leaned closer and brushed his lips against her cheek. “I think it’s a very good idea. You taste of heaven, Jasmine. I find it’s a flavor I crave. I want more.” And he hoped her answers to his other questions satisfied him. He wanted to enjoy her.

  Her exhaled breath wafted over his neck. “Jazz, not Jasmine. I’m not a flower.”

  “You’re pretty enough to be one.” A breathless laugh met his declaration, no denial. “Tell me, Jazz, am I too late?”

  She slid her hands up his chest and started to inch them around his neck but abruptly dropped them. “Too late for what?”

  The scent of Royal feline—a mix of predators—drifted to him. He brought her wrist to his nose and inhaled. Then frowned. He sniffed again, openmouthed to taste the pheromones laced into the smell. Two distinct scents were rubbed onto her skin—a temporary claim that was nearly gone. The shifters who’d marked her were male. Of that he was certain, but he couldn’t tell anything else except the males weren’t familiar.

  And their claim wasn’t permanent.

  He dragged his fingers down her neck and across her shoulder, pulling the edge of her collar back. Unmarred skin showed where a bite mark would’ve identified her as a mated female. She wasn’t taken.

  Possessiveness gripped him, stronger than he’d ever known. The sentiment of his inner felines added to it. He wanted to keep her. Simple as that.

  He rubbed her wrist against his cheek, removing the other males’ scents and replacing it with his. Her fragrance—sweet, rich, and purely Jasmine—seeped into his lungs. His tongue roughened, and the first hint of fangs slipped past his teeth. The physical response to her unique scent was a first for him.

  She’d triggered his primal side.

  “Too late for what?” She repeated.

  He glanced into the face of the female who’d awakened his primitive instincts. The only woman who had. For a Royal, that distinction opened up a world of possibilities. All promised to leave him sated. After five hundred years, he’d be a fool to turn his back on a chance at experiencing heaven on earth, even if it only lasted a night.

  He stepped closer to Jasmine and dragged in another lungful of her scent. His body ached with need. Oh yes, she’d satisfy him, and the sight of her naked would be a memory he’d treasure.

  He toyed with the neckline of her shirt and fought the urge to caress her shoulder. Normal human males weren’t fascinated with that spot of a woman’s body, and he prided himself as acting as one whenever possible.

  “Am I too late to claim you?”

  Her brows scrunched at his question. “Are you asking if I have a boyfriend?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s an odd way to say it. Are you European?”

  “Originally.” He skimmed his fingers over her forehead, smoothing her creased skin. “Well? Do you have a lover?” Or did she have two?

  “No, no. I’m all alone.” She shook her head. “I mean I have important people in my life, but I’m not involved with anyone.”

  What did that make the two males who’d left their scents on her? Friends? Business partners? Whatever they were to her, they were fools to have left her alone.

  “That’s good to know.” He took her hand and urged her to follow him. She flicked her gaze to the crowded room but fell in step beside him. He tried the nearest door, found it unlocked and the room empty. An office—Josh’s, going by the scent lingering there. No matter. It was quiet and private. “But I need to know who those important people in your life are before I claim a spot in it.”

  “What?” She grabbed the doorjamb. “Wait a minute, buddy—”

  “Rafe.”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I am not going in there with you, Rafe.”

  He crowded her against the door. “Why not?”

  “I don’t know you, and I’m not the type of girl to go off with a man. In fact”—she slipped under his arm—“I shouldn’t have followed you out of the bar. I’ve got to get home.”

  He pulled her back. “You can’t leave. Not yet.” He breathed the words against her ear. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “Which one was that?”

  “About what it’ll take to get into your bed.” Why did he ask that?

  He inwardly cursed. There were more important things he needed to uncover. Who the males were who’d scent-marked her. Why she was at Tony’s house. Who Josh was to her. But no. He let his instincts rule him.

  She turned in his embrace and linked her hands around his neck. “That’s a line I haven’t heard before.”

  Well…in for a pound. “Will it work?”

  Jasmine pressed her mouth to his ear. “No.” She pushed away from him. “I need to go home.”

  Two strides bro
ught him in front of her. “First, a kiss goodbye.”

  The small dip of her chin was the confirmation he needed. He settled his hands on her hips, lifted her, and pressed her against the wall. His mouth muffled her gasp. He kissed her, leading her with deep, rolling thrusts of his tongue until she grew pliant in his embrace. He widened his stance to steady his legs and pressed her more firmly into the wall with his hips.

  Instincts rose, ones he had no business feeling, but the need to leave his mark on Jasmine grew with each breathy moan he pulled from her. The urge worried him, but he couldn’t deny it, not when his skin tingled with the desire to feel hers rubbing against it, sweat slickened and in the throes of passion. It was lust—plain and simple—but the urgency riding him to lock her to his side wasn’t a normal reaction. It was a scary one. Didn’t stop him, though.

  Noise from the bar behind them reminded him how close they were to others, males who would look upon Jasmine with desire. He’d want to hurt them for it. That wasn’t a reaction normal males had. Rafe urged her to wrap her legs around him. She did, hooking her ankles at his lower back. He turned into the office.

  In the back of his mind, he knew he was making a mistake. The woman kissing him as if she was starved for his taste was an unknown, somehow involved with Royal felines. She might even be associated with the group who ran the trafficking ring that had decimated their species. The possibilities chilled him. He allowed each scenario to surface before pushing them aside to be dealt with later.

  Jasmine was the first female to stir his instincts and awaken his primal side. He wanted to savor her. Besides, if she viewed him as a male she desired, she’d be more likely to share the details of her personal life. That was reason enough to touch her. It was necessary.

  The door clicked closed with his kick, blocking out the laughter and music. He carried Jasmine to the leather couch he’d spied earlier and lowered her without breaking the melding of their mouths. Stretched over her, Rafe slipped his hand into the fall of her hair and cradled the back of her head.

  On and on, they kissed until she looped her arms around him and hooked a leg over his, allowing him to settle against her. The move assured him she felt safe in his arms. It was exactly the sign he wanted.

  Rafe broke the kiss and settled a hand over her hip. The rough cloth of her skirt teased his fingertips. A shiver raced down his spine. He slid his had lower.

  “What are you doing?” She tightened her grip on his shirt, balling the material in her fists, but she didn’t push him away. Or tell him to stop.

  He propped on his elbow, giving her space. It also allowed him to judge her reaction. He didn’t want to push her into doing something she didn’t want, but he needed to touch her, exactly as he’d claimed. “Touching you. You want that, don’t you?”

  Her half-lidded, drowsy gaze met his.

  “You do enjoy being touched, don’t you?” He repeated, giving her yet another opportunity to deny him.

  She swallowed hard but didn’t respond.

  “Answer me.” He couldn’t take her silence as an agreement. He needed a confirmation neither of them could deny.

  Jasmine parted her mouth slightly on a slow exhale. “Yes.”

  He gripped the edge of her skirt. “Good.”

  “But we shouldn’t…” She skimmed a hand over his chest. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  “I should say yes.”

  Hunger burned in her eyes, but her lip caught between her teeth spoke of her warring desires.

  “Look at me.”

  She met his gaze.

  “We’re not going to have sex, but I want to touch you. Hear you moan my name. No one else’s. Your pleasure is mine tonight.”

  “I don’t know you.”

  “You will.” Whether she learned the intimate details of his life or simply the basics depended on her connection to Megan.

  “We’re in a public place.” Excitement lent her words a breathy quality.

  “That’s why we came back here.”

  “You planned this?”

  “Not exactly. I wanted to talk to you in private.” He kissed her jaw. Her eyelids fluttered. “But you’ve distracted me.”

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “A mutual friend.”

  Her brows pinched. “Are you talking about Jo—”

  Rafe drew her lower lip into his mouth and sucked. She made a pleased sound that encouraged him. “Later. We’ll talk later. Okay?”

  “Yes. Okay.”

  Then he loved her as best he could without joining their bodies. Her kisses enflamed him. Everything about Jasmine appealed to him. Her taste, her soft skin under his fingertips, the way she moved with him, and those little sounds she made. Her low moans nearly killed him, testing his self control.

  Finally, he eased back. He had to or else he’d break his promise to keep their clothes on.

  Jasmine skimmed her fingertips across his back to settle at the base of his spine and pulled him closer. His breath rushed out with the simple move. More rightness settled over him. He wanted to curl his body around hers and…hold her. Not have sex with her. Just tuck her against his chest so her breath warmed his skin.

  He turned his head. A deep breath cleared his mind of the thoughts he couldn’t allow to take root. “Thank you for the kiss, my Jasmine.”

  She traced his cheek. “Shouldn’t that be my line?”

  Rafe sucked her fingers into his mouth, caressing each tip with his tongue before releasing them. “No line. I feel privileged to be the male gifted with your passion.”

  She released a shaky breath. “Wow. You’re a dangerous man, Rafe Alexander.”

  In more ways than one. If his instincts failed him, then she would learn exactly how dangerous he was. But wouldn’t allow those thoughts to take hold. Not yet. The cats he’d been born with would never have allowed him to touch Jasmine if they doubted her. He had to trust them.

  Whatever secret she held, he’d uncover, and he needed to do so soon. There was a good chance he’d gotten himself addicted to the woman.

  Chapter 4

  Jazz couldn’t move. Her body lay boneless, sated, and so relaxed she could’ve drifted off to sleep if not for the heavy weight of the man who’d kissed her keeping her awake. Rafe’s head rested on her stomach while he skimmed his fingers up her side. The sweeping exploration reached under her shirt to skim along the edge of her bra, but he made no move to unhook it. He hesitated each time as if he were debating whether he wanted to push for more. At the moment, with her body humming and pliant, she wouldn’t have resisted him.

  Rafe would know it too. With the easy, confident way he’d touched her, she had no doubt he was well experienced. Unlike her. She hadn’t had any sexual relations in… five years.

  Jeez, she hadn’t realized it’d been so long. She went from abstinence to fooling around with a stranger in a single night.

  The rashness of her actions choked her. She tensed.

  Rafe’s fingers stilled. He lifted his head and peered at her through the blond strands of his hair. He appeared wild and untamed…a primitive male set on taking down his prey.

  Her breathing quickened.

  “Jasmine?”

  The cautious way he said her name added to the churning in her belly.

  “Off.” She shoved at his shoulders.

  He sat up slowly, as if afraid to startle her. She stood and smoothed her skirt. The clock on the wall chimed. Nine o’clock. Curses zinged through her head. She’d promised Mr. Wilkins she’d be home by nine-thirty.

  She ran a hand through her hair. Or tried too. The tangled mess would need more help than her fingers could give. It would have to wait. She reached for her keys. They weren’t in her skirt. She glanced under the desk. Nothing.

  “Looking for these?”

  “Yes!” She reached for them. He raised his hand, keeping the ring with her two keys just out of reach. “Gimme those.”


  He slid his other arm around her waist and drew her against him.

  “Not until you give me your name and number. I want to see you again, Jasmine.”

  She swallowed hard and tipped her head back. Heavy-lidded eyes met hers. “Jazz. Not Jasmine.”

  He shook his head and slid a hand over her bottom. He massaged each cheek before resting his palm on her hip. “Only in public. When we’re alone, you will be my Jasmine.”

  The possessive edge to his voice left her body and mind warring. She went lax in his arms, while her instincts warned her to run. The intensity to his gaze made her feel as if she was his prey.

  “Don’t look so shocked. I didn’t lie when I said you caught my interest.” He grinned at her. “You should feel special.”

  Special? She wasn’t special. “I’m sorry I led you on, Rafe, but I’m not interested in a relationship with you.”

  “Not interested…in a relationship.” He bent closer, urging her to lean backward. “Exactly what does that mean?”

  “It means exactly what I said. I am not interested in a relationship with you. This shouldn’t have happened. I got carried away.” She held out her hand. “Now give me my keys.”

  A tic developed on his jaw. “And why shouldn’t this have happened?”

  “Umm, well for one, you’re a stranger. And two, I’m not interested!”

  “You didn’t tell me no.”

  “I…I…” Ugh. He was right. She’d wanted his kiss.

  “I want another kiss. Will you tell me no, now?”

  She opened her mouth. The refusal wouldn’t come out. She couldn’t lie to this man. Or herself. Instead, she shook her head.

  “Stubborn.” He made a low, annoyed sound and kissed her, pushing his tongue into her mouth and urging her to follow his lead. She didn’t resist him. After experiencing passion in his arms, she was eager for anything he gave her. She shouldn’t be, not with a stranger, but she hungered for him.

  He lifted her and carried her to the couch never breaking their lip lock.

  For the first time in five years, she wanted to have sex. Just the thought of being with Rafe excited her, but the sound of a zipper being undone yanked her out of the lust-filled moment.