Surrounded by Temptation (8 page)

“Brought you some food,” Krista said. Mikaela followed behind her.

“I’m not hungry.” Ariel turned back to the computer.

“How’d it go last night?” Krista asked as she set a plate of fruit and croissants next to her.

Mikaela snatched up a few strawberries before leaning against the desk, facing Ariel.

She sighed, turning to face her intruders. “It went fine.”

“Funny,” Mikaela said, lifting a piece of the fruit to her mouth. “That’s exactly the same thing Rob said at breakfast.”

Ariel felt her cheeks get hot and she quickly tucked her hair behind her ear, trying to hide her embarrassment. She could talk about pretty much anything in a clinical setting, but when the attention was focused on her, she felt totally inept. Just remembering how Rob had mastered her body sent a shiver of remembered need coursing through her.

“Oh my God, you slept with him!” Krista screeched.

At the scornful look in her sister’s eyes, Ariel said, “Seduction is a necessary part of testing the compound.” She quickly grabbed a croissant to help shove any more lame excuses from spilling out. She could lie all she wanted to herself, but vocalizing that threadbare excuse made her feel even more ridiculous.

“So you feel nothing for Rob? He’s just a lab rat to you?” This was from Mikaela. Great. So now they were both ganging up on her. She needed to divert their attention and fast.

“Look, I can’t explain what’s happening with him, but maybe you can help me find some answers. I’m actually here trying to research their family history. If we know more about why they have the ability to shift in the first place, then treating them long term will be so much easier.”

“You think we’re stupid enough to fall for that evasive tactic? We’re both lawyers, for crying out loud. We’ve seen defendants do a better job when being questioned by the prosecution.” Krista crossed her arms and glared at her.

Mikaela sighed and looked at Krista. “Let’s give her a break. Rob is a big boy, and he’s not talking either.” She glanced at Ariel. “Yes, he’s not been playing
Twenty Questions
and it’s pissing my husband off.” Then she chucked and ate another strawberry.

Ariel took a deep breath and focused on Mikaela. It was easier than trying not to squirm under her sister’s stare. “What can you tell me about their family history?”

“Well, let’s see. Thomas’ parents died when he was very young. He doesn’t remember them. He also doesn’t talk about how he was able to mate with his wife. He’s very secretive about all that.”

“Do you think he really knows something and is hiding it from his sons?”

Krista frowned, looking over at Mikaela. “You don’t think that, do you? I couldn’t imagine Thomas being that careless where his boys are concerned.”

“No, I don’t think it’s anything like that. If I had to guess, I think he really doesn’t know anything about where he comes from. He probably stumbled into his—for lack of a better work—
heritage
and might’ve taken his mate in a manner he wasn’t proud of, so he doesn’t talk about it.”

“As in…you think he might’ve raped their mother?” Krista paled.

“Oh, no, no, no. If he took her against her will, then they both would be dead. Remember what happened to Eric?” Ariel frowned, trying to remember the name, and Mikaela paused. “Eric was the youngest of the brothers. He mated with a woman against her will. She attacked him after she shifted and they fought to the death.”

“So what keeps them from attacking any woman they mate?”

“Love. If a woman is willing to spend the rest of her life with one of them, then she wouldn’t attack after being mated. The men are very primal in that state, so it’s hard for them to grasp their humanity. If a woman he doesn’t love is attacking him, his natural instinct is to protect himself.”

Love. Ariel didn’t believe in love, so how could an imaginary state of mind stop two people from killing each other? She needed something more convincing than a fanciful illusion.

“Anyway, I think Josh’s parents knew each other, maybe were already sweet on each other, and Thomas mated her. You know how they get when the need to mate overtakes them. It’s not all sweet kisses and flowery words.” Mikaela giggled.

“And he’s from a different era. Where women today might get off on being dominated, thirty years ago it probably wasn’t as socially acceptable,” Ariel guessed.

“Exactly. If he’s ashamed of his mating, he wouldn’t want to talk about it. Besides, talking about how he mated with their mother has nothing to do with how he came to be the way he and his sons are.”

“True,” Ariel murmured. “I need to find the missing link that connects Thomas’ family to the shifters within it.”

“Maybe if we sneak—”

Mikaela’s sentence was cut short when the door to the office opened so hard that it hit the wall and shook the plaques hanging on it.

Ariel’s mouth fell open at the sight of Rob, panting, his work clothes disheveled, his hair mussed as if he’d been tunneling his fingers through it repeatedly.

“Out,” he snapped.

Ariel stood as if she were going to flee. No need to ask her twice. If her body hummed at the sight of him, she ignored it.

“Not you.”

“Rob, are you okay? Do you want me to get Josh?” Mikaela asked.

Rob glanced at her. “I’m fine. I need to have a word with Ariel.” He looked dead at his person of interest. “Alone.”

“I’m not leaving my sister alone with you,” Krista said, and Ariel envisioned her stomping her foot, but she couldn’t look away from Rob’s gaze to see if that theory were true.

“Toby knows I’m here too.”

As if on cue, Krista’s cell phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her pocket and read the screen. “Let’s go,” she sighed, looking at Mikaela. Then she looked at Ariel. “We’re not going far.”

Ariel watched, stunned, as her only source of protection left her in the lion’s den with one seemingly pissed off kitty cat.

“Care to explain yourself, little one?”

* * * *

Rob was shaking he was so angry. They’d had a night filled with passion. His need had exploded around them, and Ariel had been right there with him every step of the way, begging, responding, coming apart in his arms over and over again.

Until he’d woken up alone in her bed with an erection that was so hard he could pound nails with it. Where his little waif had run off to, he didn’t know, but before he could storm out in search of her, Josh had cock blocked him. His older brother had stopped him from hunting his mate down and sternly suggested Rob give her some time to adjust. His brother had smelled her all over him, so there was no pretending nothing had happened, but that didn’t mean Rob had to provide any details—no matter how hard Josh had tried to get some answers.

So Rob had done what was expected of him. He went to breakfast. Alone. And began his workday. Irritated. He’d had every intention of leaving Ariel to her research or whatever she needed to do while she was away from him, but as the seconds ticked by and the minutes dragged on, he found himself more worked up. It was only midmorning, and he couldn’t fight the need to seek her out. He had to find out why she’d snuck out on him. Yes, he was agitated because of her, but he was furious with himself for not being able to go a few hours without going to her.

“W-what do you mean?” She backed away a few steps and his lion wanted to pounce.

“Stop moving back! I’m so on edge that I won’t be able to resist the chase,” he gritted out, fisting his hands in an effort to stay immobile.

“Sorry,” she gasped, and took a tentative step toward him. He breathed a little easier. She wasn’t near close enough, but at least she’d stopped her retreat.

“Why did you leave me?”

Ariel took another hesitant step closer, and Rob released his fists, stretching out his fingers. “I have work to do, Rob. I can’t stay in bed all day.”

“I woke up at five a.m. and you were already gone. That’s hardly sleeping in, Ariel.”

“Um, I know that I—”

“Were you afraid of getting fucked again this morning? Because, angel, you would have been.” He had to touch her. He moved slowly toward her. “I would have rolled you on your back and slid deep inside you. Kissed you lazily while I took my time building your pleasure up.” He reached for her, pulling her into his arms, his mouth finding her ear. “But now, I just want to bend you over that desk and fuck you like a rutting animal. Show you who you belong to.”

She squeaked when he crushed his mouth to hers, but the sound morphed into a moan as she wrapped her arms around his back. Rob’s internal voice screamed in victory. She wanted him and he needed her. Right fucking now.

He broke the kiss and turned her so that she was facing the desk. “Keep your hands flat against the desktop.” He yanked her pants and panties down with one hand while he unbuckled his pants with his other. He shoved a finger inside her and found her ready. “God, you’re so fucking wet.”

He pulled out his finger and pushed his cock into her.

“Rob!” Her pussy clamped down on him and he stilled.

“Shit, are you too sore, angel?” No matter how much he needed to own her in this moment, he could never hurt her. He’d rather cut his own heart out.

“It’s okay,” she breathed, and pushed back against him.

He groaned, conflicted with wanting to do the right thing and needing to take her…as much as he could take her right now.

“Please,” she whispered, and the internal battle was decided. Rob slowly pushed the rest of the way into her moist heaven. “Yes.”

Her barely vocalized acceptance was like fire licking at his balls. He came over her and thrust into her repeatedly. He wouldn’t be able to hold out like he had last night. His emotions were too raw, his need too overpowering, but his lion wouldn’t allow him to come before its mate. He snaked his hand around her hip and down between her legs. She yelped when he made contact with her clit and flinched away. Rob bit her shoulder to hold her in place and growled low, warning her not to resist as he strummed her clit and fucked her hard.

“You’re gonna make me come,” she panted.

He released her shoulder. “Do it, angel. I’m dying here.” When her pussy began to flutter, he knew she was done for. “That’s it. Shit!”

She screamed, and he came inside her as he flattened her to the desk and rocked against her with his own orgasm. He bracketed her and panted, breathing in her angelic scent, a smell that would forever be burned into his very soul. He was falling in love with her. He always knew that he would. She was his mate, so love would naturally come, but to actually feel it and know it was happening, well, that was one of the greatest feelings he’d ever experienced.

When he gently released her and pulled out, he winced. “Um, angel, I’m sorry. I didn’t use a condom.” He knew better than this shit. He and his brothers were always to protect themselves, and Rob definitely wanted to protect his mate. But his lion didn’t care. Taking her without a condom meant marking her in the most intimate way possible. Yeah, he should’ve known better, but it was hard to fully feel remorse.

She gasped and turned around to face him. “What?” The color fled from her face, and Rob reached for her. She jerked away from him.

“I said I was sorry and I meant it. Why are you backing away from me again?” He frowned as she kept moving back.

“Does this mean I could get pregnant now?”

Why in the hell did she look disgusted? He growled. “No.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you can get women pregnant, right? Or is that not physically possible?”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Ariel? I’m a man, not a fucking creature. Just because I shift into an animal doesn’t mean I’m not one hundred percent man.” When she didn’t say anything else right away, Rob was felt his heart dropping.
She thinks I am a creature. Not capable of being a man she needs.
His lion demanded he prove her wrong, make her see him for the person he was and not the science experiment she thought of him. But all he really wanted to do was flee. Maybe it was because of the medication that he didn’t want to stay and fight. “You know what? Just forget it. I’m through with your fucking tests.”

And he ran. He barely cleared the door before he shifted into the animal she would always think him.

Chapter Eight

Ariel had spent the last week with her nose buried in one book or another, reading about the history of civilization and chemical compounds. Rob was avoiding her, and she couldn’t say that she completely blamed him. After the last time they were together, she’d freaked out when he hadn’t used a condom, but he’d taken it all wrong. Since her marriage to Will soured, she hadn’t been using birth control. The medication had always made her sick, so she only took it if she absolutely had to. The bottom line was she wasn’t protected against pregnancy and she wasn’t ready to be a mom. That was all.

And the fact that she hadn’t originally questioned Rob’s humanity and ability to conceive like he’d assumed she was worried about made her realize he’d somehow knocked her off her game. She was a scientist, biochemist here to do a job, and the first thing that should have popped into her mind was the scientific probability of the Woods men being able to conceive. If it wasn’t possible, then Rob and his brothers wouldn’t be here.

But that wasn’t Ariel’s first concern. Over the last week, she’d tried telling herself that her reaction was a typical woman’s reaction…and she was a woman. But she couldn’t help but acknowledge that in such a short amount of time Rob had become more to her than a test subject. She didn’t want to analyze what he was to her because she was analytical by nature and would pick it apart until she discovered the answer.

She didn’t want to know the answer to that. In this case, ignorance was truly bliss, but as her days went on, she found herself not concentrating on her work, her thoughts drifting to one tall, dark, and sexy as hell man who lived in the cabin next to her. No matter how hard she tried to push him out of her mind, he’d find his way back with a vengeance.

Rob had been true to his word and not allowed any more testing, so regardless of her wishes to fully test his will, she knew that opportunity had sailed. She couldn’t even bring herself to approach Jack about participating in some tests. Ariel’s stomach turned with just the fleeting thought. So instead, she just formulated the drugs and gave them to Thomas to administer, and after Thomas watched them give themselves their own shots, he started leaving the syringes with them at night for them to medicate themselves in the morning, and then he’d collected the empty syringes at breakfast to return to her. It was a system that ensured the men learned how to medicate themselves without assistance and pushed her out of the equation completely. At this point, she could concoct the compound at her lab on campus and ship it to them.