Predator's Refuge (5 page)

Okay, maybe she wasn’t a frustrated girl after all. Maybe there was more to this woman than he’d first assumed.

Listening to her talk amused him, made him want to smile. She had a funny, nervous laugh that escaped every so often, but other than that, her voice was musical to his ear, like a familiar song he’d once loved but had forgotten. Her warm, alto voice was like a haunting melody by Liszt, one which, once heard, remained in his head for weeks. Add to that her intoxicating scent and he was having trouble keeping a rein on his more primal urges.

For so long, he’d been free of these base instincts, no longer a slave to the libido that caused so much trouble for him at home. He’d been as close to pure as he’d ever been.

And now, a day into his acquaintance with Marci Lennox, he wanted to grab her to him, strip her of her businesswoman suit, and fuck every hole in her body until she came in a hurricane of pleasure. There was no denying it. He wanted to bury himself in those uptight curves and watch her unravel on a series of gut-wrenching sighs. He wanted to know what kinds of moans she made, and what it would take to hear her cry his name. He wanted to explore her at leisure, with his cock and his fingers and his tongue.

Ah, he wanted a lot of things. He also wanted world peace and an end to poverty. That didn’t mean any of those things would happen. He couldn’t let it happen, not with this woman. She was too impressionable. Too hard up. Even if he allowed himself to indulge for one night, she’d be declaring her love in minutes. A good girl through and through, Marci Lennox would not know what to do with a one-night stand.

Yet why did he take great satisfaction in the thought? Even now, as she rambled on and on, checking off topics on a training printout, he gazed at her. For a man to know he was the only man to touch Marci Lennox would be a soul-satisfying sensation. For some reason, he felt he could sleep a little better knowing no other shifter had plundered her body.

Like he could.

His tiger snarled in a corner of his being, its luminescent gaze homed on Marci. Froth collected at the corner of the animal’s lip, detailing quite clearly how famished it felt. The lustful creature had kept him up all night with carnal ruminations about her. Stupid animal.

And what of the man who’d held her in the hallway … Killian, his new coworker. Their relationship obviously ran deep, but how deep? And was it a physical one? He could not stop debating the issue in his head.

Don’t let that bastard touch her
, his tiger commanded.

Anton squeezed his eyes shut and compelled the animal to leave him alone. Now if he could only make his erection disappear.

“I’m boring you,” Marci said. “You can barely keep your eyes open. Did you sleep at all last night?” The delicate furrow of her brow indicated more concern than annoyance.

“Don’t worry yourself about me. I’m fine.” He sighed. “Perhaps I am somewhat jet-lagged, however.”

She put her pen down. “I should let you rest a bit more.”

Why? So he could dream about her again? No, thank you. Better to work. “If it is all the same to you, Ms. Lennox, I’d like to see where my office is. And then, perhaps later I will take a nap.” And a shower as cold as the Bakony Mountains at the height of winter.

“Okay,” she said, standing and nibbling her still-raw lip. “Let’s go. On one condition.”

He stood and nodded.

“Please call me Marci. The whole Ms. Lennox thing is starting to make me feel like a kindergarten teacher.” She offered him a quick, shy smile, a mere lift and drop of her lips, and Anton’s chest expanded.

Had she just become even prettier?

“So,” she said as they left the lodge. “You’ll be sharing office space with Killian. We’re in the midst of expanding the mentoring program facilities, so it’s a bit dusty with the renovations in the office. You and Killian will each get your own spaces in about a month. I hope you won’t mind working closely with him for now.”

“I’m sure your friend and I will get along just fine.”

A strange shadow flitted through her eyes, but he dismissed it when it disappeared.

He didn’t say a word as they walked toward the program office, based in one of the cabins on the massive property. He made a mental note to run around the resort at the earliest opportunity to familiarize himself with every nook and cranny. And while he did, Marci continued on with her instruction of how the resort worked. She’d been right when she said she knew the place well; it was clear in all the small details she shared with him.

“On Wednesday nights, we do our weekly bonfire and make s’mores with the kids. Of course, as a new mentor, you’ll be part of that. It can get busy. Ryland’s program for young shifters is very popular because our people have so few outlets for expressing what we are. The program does so much good for the community and people love coming. Thursday nights are reserved for parents, and we do a mixer at the pub. A lot of the parents who come to us are pretty stressed out, with shifter children, so we like to provide them with a bit of a release too. Friday nights are fish fry nights, and they’re lots of fun. So, do you have family?”

He started at her sudden change in topic. “Not one of my own, if that’s what you mean. However, I have two brothers. I am the eldest.”

“So, I guess there’s an heir and two spares, huh?” She grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound rude. I guess I’ve never quite understood the whole monarchy thing.”

His stomach lurched, as it often did at the mention of his family, a veritable churning pit of regret and sorrow. He swallowed hard and forced the pain deep down into his gut, into a spot where it wouldn’t plague him. He gave her what he hoped looked like a smile. He wasn’t sure. He hadn’t smiled in so long. “It is quite all right, Ms. Lennox. I mean,
Marci
. Growing up in a family such as mine, one becomes quite accustomed to its more mercenary qualities.”

They arrived at the office, but she didn’t reach for the door. She just stared at him, with something resembling sadness in her eyes. Her nostrils flared, her lips parted, and then she turned away, quickly pushing open the door.

“Oh, and one thing,” she said under her breath. “Killian’s a good guy, but he’s been sort of running the show around here with Ryland as far as the mentoring goes. I know shifter men can sometimes get a little territorial, so just ignore him if he gets lippy.”

“No problem,” he answered with a sniff. “If lippy is the worst thing I see here, I’ll be, as North Americans say, a happy camper.”

Chapter 3

Marci walked into the office, bothered by Anton’s offhand comment about his “mercenary” family. What did that mean? Were they really as bad as that? She understood living a life of privilege, as he must have done, would have its demands and obligations, but few people she knew would describe their own families in such terms. And for some reason, it made her heart break a little.

He might be a tough guy, there was no debating it, but she’d seen the flicker of regret in his eyes when mentioning his family. She wanted to know more about it. Was he talking about his brothers, or was it someone else who had hurt him?

She didn’t want to think of anyone hurting him. After all, he might be a big macho man now, but he’d once been a little boy. She hated to think that boy had ever been scared or alone.

Tucking the thought away for later consideration, she turned the corner into the spacious mentoring lounge, Anton right behind her.

They were confronted by three hostile animals. A bear, a wolf, and a snarling jaguar.

Not missing a beat, Anton reacted. He grabbed her around the waist, lifted her off the floor with one arm as if she were a rag doll, and shoved her behind him. She hit the back wall and collapsed to the ground, stunned but unhurt. Anton dropped swiftly to his knees and issued a horrible roar. She sucked in a jerky breath as his body underwent the change of the shift. Before she could register the details of his transformation, how his muscles warped and sprouted orange hairs, he’d turned into a gigantic Siberian tiger. At least five hundred pounds of bulk made up his animal self. His clothing lay on the floor in scraps. He stood his ground before her and growled at the other animals, his tiger voice dripping malice and murder.

Within seconds, the other three shifters shifted back and fell upon themselves laughing like a bunch of naked hyenas. She averted her eyes from the men who’d been her coworkers and friends for years, even though she’d seen each one of them naked on numerous occasions.

Hazard of being a shifter. You saw everyone’s bit and pieces at some point.

Right now, she couldn’t care less about their dangly bits. She couldn’t see for her anger. Clenching her fists, fighting the urge to shift herself, she turned and glared at them. Killian, Bart, and Lloyd, the new winners of the Idiot Employee of the Month award. “What the hell, guys? What’s wrong with you?”

Killian, his gaze still as focused and predatory as his jaguar’s had been, just chuckled. “Relax, Marci. We’re just having fun.”

She gawked at him, and then turned hostile eyes toward Lloyd, the bear shifter, and Bart, the wolf shifter. “I don’t appreciate this sort of fun. Aren’t you guys a little old to be conducting hazing rituals?”

“We’re just playing with the little kitty cat,” Bart said with a nod toward a still-growling Anton.

At that, Anton shifted back and stood tall, looking more like seven feet than his six and a half. She stared at the rippling muscles on his back and her gaze fell toward the tense glutes of his naked ass.

Oh, glory be!
His magnificence almost made her choke on her tongue.

Even though her better judgment demanded she restrict her view to his backside, she crept forward and her fluttering eyelashes somehow directed her vision to his front.

The man was sex personified. Huge thighs, covered in a smattering of curly black hairs. A flat stomach, boasting an eight-pack so delectable she wanted to eat off it. She could just imagine herself dragging her tongue over the dips and curves of his steely musculature. His pecs were impressive, as were his mighty arms. A little dizzy from allowing her gaze to travel along all the bulges there, she felt as if she’d been riding a roller coaster. Oh, to ride him.

Her lynx screamed at her to look at his cock.

No!

Yes. Look. Look now!

She couldn’t help herself. She blinked and promised herself it would just be a glance, a fleeting glance. Only it wasn’t. She took in each intimidating detail. From the way it sprang from a nest of black curls, to its mouthwatering culmination, many inches away. Anton was hard and thick, and even though he was roused in fury, she just knew he’d appear equally glorious when roused by desire.

Luckily, none of the men seemed to notice her ogling, so intent were they all on acting the big man.

She should be stepping in and putting an end to the bizarre confrontation, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, at the sight of Anton naked. She’d go to her grave shaking her head over his godlike proportions.

Anton grunted at Bart. “Who are you calling kitty cat, dog?”

Bart, a big man himself, pushed out his chest. “Just welcoming you to the team, Princess. If you’re going to work here as a mentor, in charge of young shifters, we need to know you can do the job.” He looked at the other men, but they weren’t laughing anymore. They’d seen the rage in Anton’s eyes.

Marci dragged her gaze away from Anton’s sheer bulk and raised her voice to Bart. “He’s already had an interview, in case you hadn’t heard.”

Anton angled his head toward her and his gaze flitted her way for a second, as if acknowledging her defense.

Lloyd tossed a pair of pants to Bart. “Get dressed, Bart. You had your laugh. Ha ha.” He walked over and handed another pair to Anton and stuck out his hand for a shake. “You can borrow this pair of mine, although I’m not sure they’ll fit you.” He eyed Anton’s lower half and his brows shot up, no doubt in awe of the other man’s package. “They might be tight but they’ll get you out the door. I’m Lloyd, by the way. The dog is Bart. We’re in security. Killian is our resident jaguar jackass. Sorry for the scare.”

Anton sized Lloyd up and shook his hand. “Thank you.”

As Anton covered himself up, Marci came fully to her senses. She walked over to a newly dressed Bart. “What’s wrong with you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Ask your friend Charles. It’s because of her I’m constantly on edge. Did you know she’s begun flirting with Jack in Facilities
and
Ray in Housekeeping?”

“Yeah, I’m not going there with a ten-foot pole.” She turned to Killian. “And you? I expected way more of you.”

Killian didn’t say a word, but his lips compressed. His dagger gaze flitted from her to Anton and then he turned away and grabbed his clothes.

She walked back to Anton, who was just zipping up his front. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, his face etched in pensive lines. “I’ve dealt with much worse,
cicuskám
.”

She gawked, in wonder of his physical prowess, but also amazed by the protective streak he’d demonstrated in defending her from the other shifters. “Thank you for protecting me from these numbskulls. They’re usually good guys, despite this little show of stupidity.”

For the first time since meeting him, Anton looked as if he might really smile at her. Straight, white teeth peeked from between his lips. Glee shone in his eyes and her heart swelled in response. “It was nothing.”

“It
was
something.”

Bart walked over and interrupted her. “Just so we’re clear,” he demanded of Anton. “Where do you stand on petite, female wolf shifters with potty mouths?”

“Uh, I have no opinion of them. Trust me.”

Bart let out a relieved breath. He offered Anton a wide smile and grabbed his hand to shake it. “Awesome. You can stay. Welcome to the team.”

“Marci,” Killian called, his voice still carrying an angry edge. “Why don’t you leave Mittens here to set up his desk? We can get to know each other better while he puts Hello Kitty stickers on all his file folders.”