Touch of Seduction Read online

  The heat blooming beneath the pale, pearl-like luster of her skin.

  The provocative rush of blood pounding through her veins.

  The heady rise of desire as it softened her body.

  Then she exhaled a sharp, shivery breath, the scent of her mouth filling his head, and Aiden realized he’d made a fatal error. A serious miscalculation. He’d thought she smelled good on the outside, but it was nothing compared to her scent on the inside, the sweetness of her inner secrets breaking him down. He could only imagine how perfect it would smell when her warm juices were slipping from her sex like honey, pooling like melted sunshine between her thighs. They would be mouthwatering—hot and slick and exquisite—and in that instant the man faded to the background of his mind…and the animal took over.

  One second he was poised above her, and the next thing Aiden knew, he’d taken her mouth, thrusting his tongue deep, tasting her completely, the kiss just shy of violent as he sought out that rich burn of flavor. A devastating burst of pleasure poured through his muscles and his limbs, scorching every inch of his body, inside and out—the painful, gnawing need so much worse than it’d been before.

  She smelled deliciously ripe…and somehow tasted even better. Though he knew it was madness, the feral part of his soul was roaring that he needed to mount her, penetrate her and fill her up with a hot, thick surge of come before she could get away. He growled low in his throat, wondering where that strange urge was coming from, compelling him to do the unthinkable as he pushed himself between her thighs in a hard, aggressive movement. He’d never willingly spilled himself inside any woman, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now.

  A chilling shadow from his past crept through him, but he mentally shoved it away, fighting against that slick, nauseating pull. Never. He would never go down that path again. Which meant that he needed to get away from Olivia Harcourt…and stay away. Now. The sooner the better, for both their sakes.

  If he could just get her and the kid out of there, he could take them to a motel. Then he could switch up—to hell with the promise he’d made his friends back in Colorado—and hand her over to Kellan. Let the wolf deal with her, while he protected them from a distance.

  Struggling to find the presence of mind to break away from her, Aiden became painfully aware of the fact that he was grinding against her now, thrusting his hardened cock against the warm, tender notch between her thighs. Even as he fought to hold back the release of his claws and fangs, his fingers and gums burning with the need to change, he was eating his way into her mouth, unable to stop. His beast had hijacked his body and he was helpless in the face of its primitive demands. Once he’d started kissing her, he was lost. And God help him, it felt as if she was actually kissing him back, her small tongue rubbing against his, her sweet breaths filling his mouth as he shifted his head from one side to the other, searching for a deeper angle…a way to get even more of those pansy-soft lips and the sleek, lush warmth that lay within.

  It completely unnerved him, how lost he was to the act, considering he’d never been all that interested in losing himself in the taste of a woman’s mouth before. After all, there were always more interesting things a female could be doing with her lips and her tongue. And for some strange reason, Aiden had always viewed a kiss as something a little too intimate for the kind of affairs he had with women.

  But he was kissing the hell out of the little human trapped beneath his body and the cold, hard ground, and he never wanted to stop. He was also dangerously close to taking her right there, and he could not let that happen, for too many reasons to count.

  She’s one of them, you idiot. A friggin’ human. Do you even know what you’re doing?

  With a deep, bitter snarl, Aiden finally managed to pull away from the drugging depths of pleasure, breaking the contact of his mouth against hers. But it wasn’t easy. Breathing hard, his heavy chest rising and falling beneath his black T-shirt, he forced himself to change the position of their bodies, pinning her hips between his rigid thighs. With that done, he wiped the back of his wrist over his damp mouth as he struggled to calm his thundering heart rate.

  “Who are y-you?” she stammered. “G-get off me!”

  For some reason he couldn’t understand, Aiden found that stutter of hers completely charming. It probably made him nine different kinds of insane, but watching the way her mouth trembled when she got stuck on a word just made him want to kiss her again.

  “Are you deaf?” she cried out in a shrill voice. “I said to g-get off!”

  He kept her wrists pinned against the weak blades of winter grass and did his best to ignore the devastating effect of her struggling body beneath him. “Just take a deep breath and calm down,” he choked out. “I’m a good guy, okay? I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Her eyes went wide with disbelief. “Yeah, r-right. What kind of moron do you think I am?”

  Even in the frosty, moon-drenched darkness, Aiden could see her clearly, though he knew he remained mostly in shadow to her human vision. Her unusual violet eyes were bright with shock, her mouth swollen from the hard aggression of his kiss—the pink, full lips glossy and smooth, tempting him to take them again. The rational part of his brain knew that her individual features weren’t the most beautiful he’d ever seen—that they were more cute and feylike than exotically sculpted—and yet he was completely mesmerized by them. She was undoubtedly pretty, but he couldn’t stop staring with rapt absorption, as if he were gazing down at the most exquisite, provocative female ever created.

  Clearing his throat, he somehow managed to say, “Seriously. I mean you no harm,” then immediately winced, thinking he sounded like some geeked-out alien trying to reassure the panicked earthlings that he came in peace. What in God’s name was wrong with him?

  “How do I know that?”

  “Because if I wanted to hurt you,” he countered in a gravelly tone he was determined to keep even and calm, “I’d have already done it.”

  A bitter laugh spilled from her lips. “And that’s supposed to make me t-trust you?”

  “I don’t give a damn if you trust me or not. But you’d better do what I tell you if you want to make it through this alive, because the bad guys probably aren’t far behind me.”

  “What do you want from me?” She forced each word through her gritted teeth. “Why are you here?”

  She continued to pull at her trapped hands, but Aiden wasn’t ready to let them go, knowing she would only try to strike out at him and end up hurting herself. “I’m someone who was sent here to keep you alive.”

  “That’s not p-possible.” Her stammering words suddenly trailed off, the look of rising horror on her pale face tearing at him like claws. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? You son of a bitch. Monica said they could look human. You’re one of the bastards who killed my sisters!”

  “I’m not a bloody Casus,” he growled, scowling down at her.

  “Right! And I’m just meant to b-believe you?”

  “Well, if I was, you could bet your sweet little ass that I wouldn’t have been knocking on your front door. And I wouldn’t be taking the time to talk to you, either,” he finished in a guttural snarl, his own temper beginning to get the better of him.

  She calmed a little at his words, sinking her teeth into that full lower lip that Aiden knew was going to play front and center in his dreams, obviously thinking over what he’d said. Then she took a deep breath, slowly exhaled…and finally stopped fighting his hold. “If you’re not one of the monsters,” she questioned in a soft, hesitant voice, “then just who in God’s name are you?”

  CHAPTER TWO

  KNOWING THIS WAS GOING to be the tricky part, Aiden stalled, using the time to simply appreciate the way her curly hair spread out against the ground beneath her, the vibrant color shimmering like bloodred jewels in the silvery glow of moonlight. It contrasted sharply with the paleness of her skin, the violet smoke of her eyes. When he found himself fighting the ur
ge to lean down and nuzzle his nose against the crimson strands, he coughed to clear his throat again. “I’ve come here to help you,” he told her. “Your sister’s the one who sent me.”

  “Now I know you’re lying.” She bit out the words, resuming her struggles. “My sisters are dead!”

  “One of them is.” His tone turned gruff as he noticed the liquid rush of tears glistening in her eyes. “The other’s been taken.”

  “What?” She visibly swallowed, trembling beneath him. “What are you talking about?”

  “The youngest witch. The Casus have taken her prisoner.” Rough, husky words that, if he didn’t know better, almost sounded as if they had an undercurrent of emotion to them. “We’re not sure where they’re keeping her, but we’re working on it.”

  “You mean Chloe isn’t dead?” Her voice cracked as the tears spilled from those violet eyes, and the tip of her nose turned an adorable shade of pink. Though Aiden figured she had to be at least in her mid-twenties, there was an innocence about her that made her seem younger…and made him feel like a lecherous old geezer. “Answer me, damn it. Are you saying that Chloe wasn’t m-murdered?”

  “As far as we know, she’s still alive.”

  Her shock was obvious, as was her hope that he was telling her the truth. “We never found a body,” she whispered, “but…she’s been missing for over a month. When Monica’s body was found three weeks ago, I…I just assumed that they’d gotten Chloe, too.”

  “Yeah, well, they do have her,” he said in a low voice. “But for some reason they haven’t killed her yet.”

  His gut twisted at the realization that he would eventually have to reveal the specifics of her eldest stepsister’s death, and how it had led to the hunt for her niece. “It’s Monica, though, who is communicating with Molly.”

  She shook her head, her confusion obvious. “I don’t understand. Who is Molly? How can she communicate with my sister?”

  Biting back a groan of frustration, Aiden finally levered himself off her body and stood, then offered her his hand, pulling her to her feet. He’d have been lying if he’d said he didn’t ache to pull her against him, molding her curves against his hardness, but she quickly released his hand, taking a shaky step back, her fingers swiping nervously at the tears glistening on her cheeks. As he ran his gaze down her body, he realized he’d been wrong to think of her as a “chick.” Though she was dressed in faded jeans and a simple, long gray sweater, she had class written all over her. A fact that set her even further out of his reach, seeing as how he avoided classy females like the plague, since they tended to turn their noses up at what he was willing to offer. Which wasn’t a hell of a lot.

  “I’m w-waiting for an explanation,” she stammered, though her voice was beginning to even out.

  “Aw, hell.” He lifted one hand, rubbing at the back of his neck. “This is the part I’m no good at.”

  “Well, give it a try,” she snapped, crossing her arms under her breasts. “Because I’m completely freaking out here.”

  Aiden did his best to keep his eyes focused on her face, and not on those hefted breasts, knowing without a doubt that she wouldn’t be holding her arms that way if she realized what it was doing to her chest. “First, where’s the kid?”

  She tried to give him an innocent blink. “What kid?”

  “You can’t lie worth a damn,” he said in a low voice, “so don’t even try it. It’s just going to waste our time, and we don’t have any time to lose. You’re taking care of Monica’s daughter. I think Molly said her name was Jamie.”

  Her eyes tightened, her expression filling with hard determination. “She’s my niece, and I’m not just taking care of her. I’m going to adopt her and raise her as my own. And God help anyone who tries to stand in my way.”

  Aiden arched his right eyebrow. “If you’re so protective of her, why did you start running off without her the second you laid eyes on me?”

  Her fear momentarily forgotten, she vibrated with anger as she pointed one feminine little finger in the direction of the house. “I was running toward the back door, you ass! I was running to get back to Jamie, not away from her!”

  He grunted, feeling every bit like the ass she’d just accused him of being. “Where is she?” he asked, hoping the kid wasn’t watching them from one of the windows.

  For a moment all she did was glare up at him, her gaze piercing and sharp, making him feel as if she was sizing him up, doing her best to figure him out. Just when his patience was about to snap, she said, “Jamie’s watching Hercules upstairs.”

  Nodding his head toward her car, he asked, “And where exactly were you headed?”

  “I was going to search for help,” she replied with a slight shrug.

  He didn’t like hearing that, though he couldn’t explain why. Any explanations he could have come up with didn’t make any sense—and he wasn’t about to own up to any of them, anyway. Determined to ignore the strange, possessive edge of his reaction, he simply said, “Help from who?”

  “I was going to try to find the Watchmen.”

  He couldn’t help it; he laughed. When she frowned at him, he gave her a mock salute with two fingers against his temple and drawled, “Watchman Aiden Shrader, at your service.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “That’s not funny.”

  Another dark rumble of laughter vibrated in his chest and he shook his head. “Christ, you’re telling me.”

  “Then do you care to explain why you’re laughing?” she asked tightly.

  The gusting wind pulled the long sun-bronzed strands of his hair across his face, and he lifted his hands, pushing it back. “Because I’m telling you the truth.”

  “You’re really one of the shifters?” she whispered, her violet gaze moving with slow precision over his body, from his scuffed boots, up his jeans-clad legs, over his ridged stomach and broad chest, until she was once again staring into his eyes.

  Feeling as if there were a fire burning inside him, Aiden nodded in response to her question, waiting for her to ask what kind of shape-shifter he was. But she didn’t. Instead, she pulled that lower lip through her teeth again and said, “You know, m-maybe this isn’t necessary.” Soft, quiet words that betrayed her uneasiness. “I’m sure that I can get Jamie somewhere safe, and you can just get back to…whatever it is that you do.”

  “It’s too late for you to run and hide,” he muttered, absurdly irritated by her reaction. “I’ve said I’m going to protect you, and I will. Which means you’re stuck with me.”

  She frowned again, her arms tightening across her chest. “I wasn’t planning on running, but I b-bet I could hide if I wanted to.”

  The slow smile spreading over his mouth had her blinking, and he could literally hear her heart rate speeding up as her face went hot. There was a healthy dose of worry and fear in her tense expression, but there was also desire. Olivia Harcourt might not like him, but Aiden would have been willing to bet his favorite body part that she was fully aware of the connection sizzling between them.

  And the woman thought she could hide from him. Hah. He’d like to see her try.

  “Not from me you couldn’t,” he finally rasped.

  “Do you have any idea how arrogant that sounds?”

  He shrugged his shoulders, liking the way her gaze kept slipping to the bulge of his biceps, across the broad expanse of his T-shirt-covered chest, before whipping back to his face. “Not arrogant. It’s just fact. One that you’d be smart to accept. Now that I know your scent, I could find you no matter where you tried to hide from me.”

  The words practically reeked of possession, and Aiden inwardly groaned. Oh yeah, touching her had been a bad idea, all right. Because now that he knew how she felt beneath him, he just wanted to keep on touching. Hell, who was he trying to fool? He wanted to do a heck of a lot more than touch Olivia Harcourt. What he wanted was to lay her down, spread her open and bury his face between her soft little thighs until she was wet enough to take every inch that he had
to give her.

  Then he wanted to do it again…and again, until they were both completely destroyed, their bodies wrecked, bruised and limp with exhaustion.

  As one of the most primal breeds of shifter, Aiden often felt the need for hard, aggressive sex. But this was different, as if “need” were just some paltry emotion that didn’t come close to describing how badly he wanted this woman. He didn’t like it. Didn’t like being drawn to a human this way, and his instincts were screaming that he should be wary…cautious. That she could spell trouble for him in so many ways.

  He’d known it could happen. There were always certain females who were more attractive to his kind. Ones who could draw him in. Mesmerize the beast. He didn’t know why it happened. Was the phenomenon based purely on scent? Bloodline? Random chance or the fickle hand of fate? Whatever the reason, these women were the ones to be avoided, and not just because of that “mate for life” crap. That wasn’t possible unless his emotions were to become involved and he was driven to bite her, but they were still dangerous. If anyone had the ability to become his true mate, it would be one of them. One of the ones who personally awakened his beast…who managed to touch the hungers of the animal that prowled within him, as well as those of the man. Aiden had heard it referred to as “the Eve effect”—named for that first feminine temptation—but it was exceptionally rare for it to happen to a Prime predator. And to experience it with a human wasn’t just odd, it was downright wrong. Not to mention potentially disastrous, considering humans were fickle, untrustworthy creatures at best, and his kind mated for life.

  For all the catting around the males of his species liked to do, when they stuck, they stuck hard, like friggin’ superglue. It was like that with all the Prime predatory breeds. Sure, Raptors were renowned for their possessiveness and their insatiable sex drives, but then so were the furry ones, from the tigers to the wolf breeds, like Kellan and his brother Kierland. But the Prime predators took their hungers a step further than the Raptors, needing their fangs buried in the neck of the woman they chose to mate for all eternity. They needed the hot, metallic taste of her blood on their lips. Needed to mark her flesh with the provocative power of their bite. Needed her in every possible position that had ever been used between two consenting adults…and a few more thrown in for good measure.