Her Purrfect Match (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Paranormal Dating Agency Book 3) (3 page)

THREE

Grayson Green bit back a curse. He didn’t know who she was or why she was in his territory, but he wanted her. His tiger wanted her. And she definitely wanted him by the scent drifting off her.

She glanced over his body with her beautiful cinnamon-brown eyes, her gaze sliding down in a trail of heat. His cock hardened at her perusal of his body. When he’d first seen her standing in the middle of the road, instinct to mate had taken over. He’d had a hell of a time pulling the tiger back enough that he wouldn’t tear through her clothes. Her fear had helped keep the animal in check.

“What are you doing here?” he asked again.

If she kept staring at him with such open need he’d have to ask questions later and take her to bed now. Gray couldn’t help doing his own gazing of her luscious body. He’d always liked women with curves he could hold on to. Alyssa had more than enough. Her long, dark hair hung in a long ponytail of curls down her back. Her outfit, though clearly not meant to tempt, did exactly that. A yellow sparkly tank top displayed a large amount of her golden brown skin. The plunging neckline gave more than a hint of her breasts, while the cropped jeans clung to her wide hips showing off the curves he wanted.

It was nearing mating season and the tiger inside him was roaring with need. Alyssa appeared to have shown up as if sent from the gods. Now all he needed to do was figure out what she wanted in his pride.

He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by one of his guards and best friend, Stripes.

“I need to speak with you, Gray.” Stripes rushed forward, stopping only to throw a smile at Alyssa. She frowned and turned to Tynder.

His guard had brought her to his home. Exactly as he knew Gray wanted.

“Not now, Stripes. I’m busy.” He continued to stare at his future mate. She shifted from foot to foot. Her discomfort was obvious and he didn’t like it.

“That’s why I need to talk to you.”

“Excuse me,” Alyssa broke in. “Could someone just tell me how to get to Green Edge? I sort of have a meeting with someone and I’m really late.”

“Gray—” Stripes started but stopped when he raised a hand.

Gray glanced her way. “Who are you meeting there?”

She shoved a hand into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She pressed a few buttons and glanced up to meet his gaze. “A Mr. Green?”

“She’s here for you,” Stripes whispered so she wouldn’t hear.

“What?” Gray hissed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her; he just didn’t understand why Stripes went looking for a woman for him.

Gray watched as the largest of his guards shuffled from foot to foot, nervous. “I signed you up on a matchmaking site,” he mumbled quietly under his breath. “You need cubs.”

Tynder broke into laughter but quickly stopped and cleared his throat when Gray glared his way.

“Do you think we should go?” she whispered to Tynder. “The big, sexy one is pretty pissed for some reason.”

This was one of those times Gray thanked his ability to hear even the furthest of sounds due to his sensitive shifter hearing.

Tynder choked on his laughter again. “I don’t think we should move right now.”

Gray glanced at Stripes again. “Explain. Now.”

“You’ve got to mate. You need someone by mating season, which is only a few days away. I spoke to one of our neighboring bear clans. He mentioned using the Paranormal Dating Agency and being matched with the love of his life.”

“I don’t believe in love,” he argued in a low voice so his guest wouldn’t hear him.

“But you believe in keeping your pride!” Stripes snapped quietly. “So you either mate and get some cubs born as soon as possible or fight to keep the pride for another few months until the next person wants to challenge. How long will you go on that way?”

Gray glared at Stripes. From the corner of his eye, he watched Tynder motion for Alyssa to take a seat so she wouldn’t have to stand any longer.

“But how did you know she was the one?” he asked confused.

Stripes shrugged his massive shoulders like a little kid. “I didn’t. But this Mrs. Wilder woman has a great reputation so far. I had a feeling she’d find the right one for you.” Stripes motioned over his shoulder with his head. “And she did.”

“This is crazy. Does she even know what she’s getting into?”

“Yes…sort of...” Stripes trailed off. “Mrs. Wilder said she’d know she was going on a date with a shifter.”

“I’m not looking for a date with her. I don’t even want to mate her, but...she’s mine.”

“Fine. Good. Hell, great. But you sort of have to convince her of that. She’s not here to be turned into your personal sex toy for the mating season. She’s here to meet you and get to know you to see if you are a match.”

“She’s mine.”

Stripes scrubbed a hand over the back of his head. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to date a human? Oh, you don’t. Let me fill you in. They are moody and can decide you’re being a dick just because you want sex all the time. So tread carefully.” Stripes threw a glance over his shoulder at Alyssa then gave Gray a pleading look. “Don’t mess up your chances by letting your lust and desire to mate push you. Not to mention the need to get her to have cubs as soon as possible and that never goes over well with any woman.”

“I can handle it.”

Stripes shook his head. “No, you can’t. You’re likely to get straight to the point and piss her off. ‘Have my cubs’ is not the first thing a woman wants to hear.”

A loud rumble sounded in the back of Gray’s throat. His tiger didn’t like the idea of waiting to mate Alyssa, but he’d do things the right way. Whatever the fuck that meant. So if he had to talk to her before stripping her body of those clothes and getting up close and personal with every delicious curve, then he’d do it.

“Fine. I’ll play this your way.”

“Try to stay within the area,” Stripes said, meeting his gaze. “The word has spread that you have a female here for you. It’s only a matter of time before someone tries to stop you from mating.”

“Just let them try.” He glanced at Alyssa. The need to take her grew with every smile she threw his way. “Now take Tynder and get out.”

“I really think one of us should sta
y
−
”

“Now!” he hissed under his breath. They’d done a good job of keeping their argument low enough his new guest hadn’t known they were debating over her. “I don’t need help talking.”

“Yes, you do. You hate people.”

“That’s true, but I like her. I like her a lot.” And he really wanted her naked. As soon as possible.

“Gray, let us help.”

He lifted his lips in a half-grin. “You already have. You’ve found my mate. Now let me claim her.”

Stripes sighed. He turned his back on Stripes and walked down to the other side of the room where Tynder and Alyssa sat. “Let’s go. We’ll be summoned to fix shit later, just watch.”

Tynder and Stripes said their goodbyes to Alyssa. She watched both men leave and then turned to him, pinning Gray with her soulful brown eyes.

“Something got your tail in a twist? You sounded pretty angry before.”

He stopped mid-stride to her. “Did you say I have my tail in a twist?”

She nodded, her big eyes full of laughter. Her lips curved up in a beautiful smile as she glanced down at his crotch. “I would have said panties, but you don’t look like you have anything under those jeans.”

He didn’t. He realized then she was joking and he didn’t know how to react. Nobody joked with him. His serious and reserved attitude pushed most of his pride away. Not to mention he liked his solitary life. Other than making sure nobody bothered his people, he liked peace and being on his own.

“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” he asked, now wishing he’d let Stripes and Tynder stick around. He hadn’t spent much time alone with females unless it was to have an easy night of sex. And when that happened few words were exchanged.

Women in the pride knew the deal when it came to sex. The need to continue their pride and set up for future leaders was important. Males and females were not as discerning with emotional attachments like humans were. When a female went into heat, she’d look for a single male. Emotions were kept to a minimum. Tigers were sexual creatures. They liked sex a lot. Even more when the need to mate and breed took hold.

She shook her head and swiped her tongue over her lower lip, causing his gaze to zoom to her mouth and linger there. “I’m fine. So want to tell me what it was you and your friend there were all hush-hush about?”

He cleared his throat. Now he really felt all kinds of weird chatting with her. Women didn’t question him. He wasn’t sure how to handle her questions without saying something to piss her off.

Air. He needed to get her outside. The open space would help clear his mind and at the same time allow him to figure out how to talk to a human female. What did one say to a woman other than ‘take your clothes off’?

“Let’s take a walk. You came all this way and you’ll want to see the area.”

He grabbed her hand to guide her to the door. A jolt of electricity shot down his spine. He met her wide gaze and inhaled hard. She was definitely the one. Even if there had been a doubt before, there was none now. Touching her had spread a warmth through him that his chilled heart had never felt before.

“Am I...am I very far from Green Edge?” she asked as they exited his home through a side entrance.

He couldn’t stand living in a space too enclosed, so his cabin had lots of large windows and doors bringing the outside in.

“You are in Green Edge,” he said, holding her hand hostage. She’d tried to pull out of his grasp, but he found he quite liked how she felt near him.

She stopped and frowned. “Then maybe you can tell me where I can find Mr. Green. I bet he’ll be pissed I’m late for our date.”

“That’s doubtful,” he murmured.

She shook her head, her long ponytail of curls bouncing around her back. “No. Mrs. Wilder said he didn’t like people making him wait.” She sighed. “I bet I just messed up the first possible date I’ve had in months. Figures.”

He watched her shoulders droop. The idea of her being upset wasn’t one that sat well with him. His tiger already wanted to push out of the skin and have her petting him again. The normally antisocial animal was ready to get on his back so she could rub his belly.

“I’m Grayson Green.”

She stopped again and swept her gaze from his face down to his bare feet and back up. “You? Why would you sign up for a dating service? You don’t look like you’d need anyone to hook you up.”

He grinned. She said the words with such disbelief it was hard to stop the chuckle past his lips. “I don’t, under normal circumstances.”

“Great.” She jerked her hand out of his grasp and slapped them on her hips. “So what, do you need like a fake girlfriend or something?” Her eyes blazed with anger. “I didn’t come here to play games, Mr. Green. You don’t sound like you even want a date.”

Frickin’ hell. He’d been alone with her for about five minutes and he’d already managed to offend her. Stripes was right. He didn’t know how to talk to women. Hell, he didn’t know how to talk to most people unless he was giving them orders.

“You don’t understand.” He tried to pacify her by grasping her hand again and holding it up to his bare chest. “I’m looking for more. For someone who will be right for me.”

Her brows rose slowly with interest. She was so warm and her skin was so smooth. He wanted to touch a lot more of her. “More? Like a serious relationship, Mr. Green?”

Mating was as serious as it got so yes. “Stop calling me Mr. Green. It’s Gray.”

“Fine, Gray. Are you looking for a serious relationship?”

“There is only one mate. That is what I need.”

She reeled back as if he’d hit her. “You need?”

Crap he’d fucked up again. “I mean that’s the only kind I want at this time.”

She stared at him quietly for a moment and then turned to glance at the open forest around them. “Why go through Mrs. Wilder, though? I mean. You’re hot. You must know that. I bet you don’t have a single problem picking up women.” She snorted. “Or stopping them from throwing themselves at you.”

Her candor was quite refreshing. She’d called him hot. And he liked it. “Why did you go to Mrs. Wilder?” He followed next to her as they made their way deeper into the woods.

With each step further from the restrictions of his pride or the expectations of mating, he loosened up more. He wasn’t worried. He could protect her and himself if need be.

“Apparently I have a bad habit of staying in a relationship that isn’t working. Mrs. Wilder said she’d find one that would work for me.”

“What exactly do you want in this relationship?”

They were deep out in the forest now, but he knew his way back with his eyes closed.

She glanced at him quickly before turning her face away. “The truth?”

Was there anything else? “Yes.”

“I want a family. I want love. I want to get married one day. I would like to have children. You know. The stuff most women dream of. I am sick of my own mother calling me an old, cat lady.”