In Heat (In Heat Shapeshifter Romance Series #1) Read online

  He growled.

  Her stomach clenched and her heart leaped in her chest. She gasped, shocked by her reaction to his growl.

  He growled again, trailing off in a deep rumbling purr as he lowered himself towards her.

  She flung her head back, arching off the bed as his tongue parted her nether lips and darted inside. Her mouth opened, forming a wide ‘o' as he licked up the length of her, his fingers assisting him. He circled her pert clit and flicked it with the tip of his tongue, and then delved lower. She groaned when he lapped at her entrance, purring and licking up all of her arousal. She wanted to tell him it was all for him. He was the one who made her so wet and hungry, dying to feel him inside of her.

  Her other knee came up and she spread her legs, her eyes squeezed shut as he devoured her, his tongue laving her hard.

  Her eyes shot open when he slid a finger inside her and she moaned.

  “Oh, Erik.”

  “Kim.”

  She frowned when something touched her foot.

  “Kim?”

  Fluttering her eyes open, she wondered where the bedroom had gone. She stared at the sky above her and heaved a sigh in an attempt to slow her heart rate and calm herself back down.

  “Dreaming about me?” A deep familiar voice made her eyes shoot wide open.

  She lowered her gaze and found Erik smiling at her. She was suddenly overly aware of the fact that her nipples were painfully aroused and probably showing through her top.

  “Huh?”

  “You said my name.” He smiled and she died a little inside again as she blushed. If he hadn't known she was dreaming about him, he probably did now. “I thought it was you when I was running along the path. I had to come over and say hello. I hope that doesn't contravene your client-act.”

  Now that he'd mentioned it, she noticed what he was wearing. The black tank top was fitted achingly tight against his upper body, revealing his muscles with each breath he took. His shorts were black too. The way he wore it, black was definitely sensual.

  She looked him over from head to toe, from the strong, defined muscles of his arms and torso, to his powerful looking long legs. Damn, he looked hot.

  “Client-act?” she said, a little dazed from her perusal of him and her daydream.

  “You said that I'm a client so you couldn't come out with me.” There was the slightest hint of disappointment in his voice. “Would it be terrible if I sat down? My legs are killing me.”

  She didn't know what to say. She stared at the heavenly legs in question. It would be a crime to leave them killing him. If he wanted her to, she'd more than willingly return the favour he'd done for her and massage them. Damn she was dying to touch him. She looked at the spot of grass next to her and then back at him.

  “Not here,” he said. “Come out into the sunshine. It's far too good to waste.”

  She got up without thinking and followed him into the light. It warmed her through, relaxing her as she sat down on the grass. He lay down beside her, closed his eyes and stretched out, his hands resting behind his head like a pillow. Again she found herself thinking how content he looked, laying in the sun like a cat.

  Seeing he wasn't about to open his eyes and catch her, her gaze ran over him again. He had a terrific body, lithe and toned, powerful.

  He took a deep breath and held it, and then breathed it out slowly.

  When he looked at her, she smiled awkwardly, trying to think of something to say to fill the silence. She was happy just sitting with him, but it felt so intimate, and somewhere deep inside, that made her panic a little. How could she be so comfortable sitting in silence with a man she'd only just met? Normally she was a non-stop talker around guys until they'd met each other and spoken at least a dozen times. With Erik, she was fine not saying anything. There was a pleasure in just being with him that she'd never found with anyone else.

  “What is...” she hesitated and then continued when he raised a brow, interest sparkling in his eyes, “...paragraph 157?”

  He rolled his eyes and smiled at her.

  “You know the deal,” he said in a husky barely-there voice, his gaze returning to the sky. “Dinner for an explanation.”

  She heated up a little inside at his words. He still wanted to go out with her. Hell, she was dying to say yes, but her conscience and the fear of discovery by someone at her company made her shake her head.

  “I can't be seen with you,” she said, her tone more than apologetic. She couldn't hide it from him. She hated the idea of saying no to him, but she had to. He looked at her. Disappointment shone in his honey eyes. She felt the need to add more to what she'd said to convince him. “I'd be shot.”

  His lips curved into a wicked smile. “Doesn't it just add to the excitement of being with me?”

  She told herself that it did, but it wasn't necessary to make him exciting.

  She shook her head again.

  He frowned for a moment, looking thoughtful, and then propped himself up on one arm, leaning on his side.

  “It doesn't have to be dinner then,” he said, a smile gracing his lips again. There was an air about his expression that said he'd found a foolproof plan to get her to go out with him. If he pressed her a little more, she'd agree to anything regardless of the risk it put her at. There was only so long that she could hold out before her heart won over her sense. “How about drinks? And before you say no, like I can feel you're going to, I know a place where no one at your work would know. You'd be safe there.”

  She doubted that. She'd be safe from the company but not from herself. If they went to a place where no one at work could possibly see her, she'd have no reason to control herself around him.

  “Come on, Kim.” He touched her hand and a jolt ran through her over the brief contact between them. “A couple of drinks and I'll tell you everything you want to know about me.”

  She nodded, not stopping to think because she knew if she did then she'd say no again. She wanted to go out with him, wanted to sit across a little table, or beside him at a bar, and listen to him talking all night long. Was that too much to ask? He'd practically promised that no one would see them. She trusted him.

  “Give me your address,” he said.

  She froze, her sense battling her heart again.

  “What for?” she said in a shaky voice.

  He gave her an incredulous look. “So I can pick you up of course.”

  “Maybe this isn't such a good idea.” She cringed as she said it, not wanting to upset him but knowing she had when his expression clouded.

  “You already agreed,” he said in a flat voice that clearly expressed his displeasure.

  “I know, but...”

  “Why are you always fighting me? Don't fight me, Kim. Just say yes and I promise no one will see you.” He touched her hand again, fingers lightly caressing it, coaxing and convincing her.

  What he'd said struck her hard. He kept telling her not to fight him. Dream Erik told her that too. She remembered it.

  She stared down at his hand where it was still resting against hers. He wasn't going to sprout fur and purr. He wasn't. The real Erik and the dream one weren't one and the same.

  But how did he keep saying things she'd heard in her dreams?

  Maybe she hadn't heard him say that in her fantasies. Maybe her memories were hazy enough that things he'd said to her in real life were blurring with them. When she'd dropped the files, he'd told her not to fight him. It was probably that time she was remembering, not a time in her dreams.

  She stared into his eyes. He was waiting for an answer, his look a little eager and hopeful. For once, she was going to do what she wanted. He'd promised her now. No one would see her. Besides, it wasn't everyday she had a drop dead gorgeous man practically begging her to go out with him. She'd be a complete idiot to turn him down and spend another night in alone.

  She nodded.

  He grinned.

  She wondered what he was doing when he reached into his pocket and pulled out
a mobile phone. He pressed a few buttons and then handed it to her.

  “Write it down,” he said quickly, as though he feared she'd change her mind again if he took too long.

  She did. Carefully entering her address into the note he'd opened, she checked it was all right and then added her mobile number to the bottom.

  She'd never given a guy her number before.

  She felt a little giddy.

  Handing it back, she smiled at him as he checked it and then looked at her. She hoped he wouldn't mention the number. It was impulse making her do it. She told herself that it wasn't impulse. It was just in case he was late or got lost. It had absolutely nothing to do with some futile hope that he'd call her out of the blue for no reason other than to hear her voice.

  “Nine pm sharp,” he said, standing.

  She stared at his backside as he dusted bits of dried grass off it. “Uh huh.”

  A flash of a smile in her direction and he was running off into the distance.

  She sighed and flopped back onto the grass, staring unseeingly at the sky above.

  What had she been thinking? Was she hoping it would turn out like her fantasies? She was crazy. He was just a man that matched her dream guy a little. That was all. Now she'd gone and made him the dream guy. The voice at the back of her head said that he was damn persistent about going out though.

  She smiled at the sky.

  Maybe he did like her.

  CHAPTER 8

  It was stiflingly hot. The gentle breeze blowing in through the window did nothing to cool the room. Erik lay on his back with his eyes squeezed shut as Kim ran short nails over his chest. He growled, urging her on. She giggled, a light sound in his hazy lust-addled mind.

  Her fingers travelled lower, caressing and sweeping over his stomach. He tensed it, showing her the power his body held in the only way he could right now. She moaned appreciatively and ground her pussy against his hard cock. Another growl escaped him.

  He felt her shift, and then felt the kiss she pressed to just above his navel. She kissed around it, licking occasionally as she explored his stomach. He propped his head up on his arms and watched her, not moving a muscle as she touched, licked and kissed him. It was fascinating to watch her learning his body.

  He laughed as she found a ticklish spot on his side just above his left hip and she gave him a sly smile, as though she'd added it to her list of things about him that she had learned and was saving it for use at a later date. He didn't like being tickled. Well, only behind the ears.

  She lowered her head again, kissing down until she reached his curly hair. She ran her fingers over it, study it, and then her gaze shifted across to his hungry cock. Another smile teased her lips, this time one that spoke of power and knowing. She could see how hungry he was for her, how badly he wanted her to touch there. By now, she could probably sense it, smell it on him like he could smell desire on her.

  Her fingers trailed down over his thighs as she sat back, her gaze still lingering on his length.

  His breath hitched in his throat and anticipation coiled in his stomach as she raised a hand. She lowered it slowly and stroked the tiniest tip of one finger lightly down his erection.

  He tried to sigh but it turned into a low purr in his throat.

  She smiled, looked a little more confident when he did that. He knew why, could see it in her eyes. It was the power she felt when she made him purr. As though she was the only one who could make him do it.

  She was.

  “What do you want, Erik?”

  He smiled at her question. She was getting bolder in the dreams, and in real life too.

  “You,” he breathed.

  “You want this?” She lowered her head and slowly licked up the length of his cock.

  He groaned and managed a nod.

  He tried to watch her as she licked him again, her tongue tracing the ridges and veins of his length. She reached the soft head, exploring it carefully and making him want to hold her there. She stayed, as though she'd felt his need, and flicked her tongue against the sensitive sides of it.

  His fingers curled into fists and he jerked his pelvis up, wanting more contact between them. She moaned and ran her tongue around the head of his cock, slipping the tip of it into the crack. He was about to groan again when she wrapped her lips around him and took him into her mouth. His groan became a strangled noise in his throat.

  The strangled noise became a deep purr.

  She took him in further, so deep he knew he wouldn't last long, and sucked him hard on the way back up, her tongue pressing firmly along the underside of his cock. When she reached the head, she flicked it with her tongue, and then plunged him back into the sweet abyss of her mouth. He lost himself there as she sucked hard on the way back up and then slid him back inside. Her rhythm was a slow steady torture, too divine for him to handle.

  His fingers gripped the pillows as he tried to resist thrusting into her mouth but found that he couldn't. Her hands held him down, the sense of restraint only adding to the pleasure. Her tongue danced against the head of his cock and then she sucked him again, her tempo increasing until he was panting hard in time with her movements. He screwed his eyes shut, his moan becoming a snarl as his whole body tensed, waiting for the sweet moment he'd find release.

  She rolled his balls in her hand and then pressed against the spot beneath them. He roared and came into her mouth, his cock throbbing as she continued to suck him and lick him.

  He relaxed back into the bed, carried away on a hazy sea of bliss and sedated to the core.

  Erik opened his eyes and looked down at the mess on his bare stomach and his hand where it still held his cock.

  He rolled his eyes. Another shower before going out tonight then. He frowned and reached over for a tissue from the box beside his bed. Wiping up the mess, he almost laughed at himself.

  Twenty-seven years of masturbating over the same girl. His brother would laugh at him, always did. Alistair couldn't understand why he kept himself celibate, resisting the women that life put in his path. He resisted because he wanted his mate, not some quick fuck.

  Twenty-seven years though.

  The dreams had been infrequent at first, only occurring three or four times a year. He'd known what they were instantly. God knows how old Kim would have really been when he'd started having them, but she was always the same age she was now, or thereabouts, in his visions. It was only once he'd fully matured fifteen years ago that they'd began to become more frequent, increasing until the point, two years ago, where he'd had them every night.

  It would be different for Kim. She would only have had them the past year or so. Human females that were coming into heat didn't have them consistently until just a couple of weeks to a month before they were ready for mating. Judging by the way Kim smelt and the way she acted around him, she was ready.

  He couldn't quite believe that he'd been waiting almost thirty years for her and this moment. He just hoped that she was receptive to the idea. He wouldn't be able to keep it hidden from her forever. To mate with him meant leaving humanity behind and becoming like him. Her aging would slow to a stop as she reached maturity herself, and then she'd live forever like him.

  He frowned and sat up.

  Unless someone killed her when she was in her prime. He wasn't convinced that his mother had killed his father and then taken her own life. It wasn't like her at all. She'd hated his father with such a fiery passion, but she never would've killed him.

  Walking into the bathroom, he tossed the used tissue into the toilet and flushed. He looked at himself in the mirror, studying his face and watching his eyes slowly yellowing as he allowed his primal side to the forefront.

  He shook his head and turned away, looking back into the bedroom at the large double bed. Its crisp white sheets were crumpled where he'd been lying on them. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but after returning home from his run and having a shower, he'd had nothing to do but wait. Time had passed impossibly slowly, dr
agging the afternoon out until it had become unbearable. He wanted to see her again.

  He'd lain on the bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to the sounds of silence, while enjoying the cool breeze that was bringing the smell of summer in through his window. The next thing he'd known, he was lost in a fantasy.

  Turning back into the bathroom, he turned the shower on, making sure the water was deliciously cool before stepping under the jet. He closed his eyes and thought about tonight.

  In just a few hours, she'd be with him again.

  Shortly after that, he'd see just where the hunger between them would take them.

  He wanted her.

  He was damn well going to get her.

  * * * *

  Kim almost fell over when the door buzzer rang through the flat. She hopped towards it, desperately fighting her shoe and squeezing it onto her foot just before she reached the intercom.

  She pressed the answer button.

  “Hello?” she said.

  A little black and white picture flickered into life. It was Erik. Her heart pounded at the sight of him as he leaned in close to the camera and smiled winsomely.

  “Going to let me in?” he purred the words at her.

  She nodded, as though he could see her, and pressed the button. “Sure. Third floor. Don't take the lift.”

  The screen went black and she struggled to get her other shoe on. She repeatedly smoothed the little black summer dress down over her body, struggling to breathe normally as questions crowded her mind and her stomach danced with the thought of seeing Erik again.

  She looked down at herself. It was the only black dress she owned and she was glad it still fit her. It was snug at the top but flared out at the hips, making it light and breezy. Perfect for such tropically hot weather. She did the top button up and wondered what Erik would think of it. She'd chosen it purely because of his love of black. She was wearing black underwear too. Not that she was jumping to conclusions, but it was best to be prepared.