Dimitri (Immortals of New Orleans, Book 6) (7 page)

“He was trying to force me to mate with him,” she divulged.

“But a wolf can only mate with another wolf. A human hybrid? Yes. But any other shifter combo; it’s a no go.”

“True…for most. But not for me.”

“Cher, I don’t think you know what you’re…” Dimitri began, but didn’t want to insult her. She’d been through a lot. The trauma must’ve confused her. Shifters could mate only with those of their own kind. That fact gave him great comfort, considering he wasn’t looking for one. He’d already watched Logan’s boat sink. No way was he going down that road.

“The only way it could work is for me to submit. I’d die before that happened,” Gillian continued, ignoring his comment. She couldn’t help the tears that had begun to fall. Her nerves had been like steel throughout the duration of her abduction. Dimitri offered her soul respite from the danger, a safe place to be herself.

“Come here, darlin’. It’s okay. He’s never gonna get you again.” He hoped. Dimitri hadn’t heard the entire story yet and suspected part two of whatever nugget she was hiding was not going to be good.

“I’m sorry. I don’t even know you.” She pressed her palms to his bare chest, and lifted her eyes to meet his.

“We know each other just fine.” Dimitri smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

She raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Okay, maybe I don’t know your favorite color yet.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” she smiled.

“Not true. I know you have a tattoo on your back. And we’ve already cuddled in bed,” he joked. “Hell, you’ve even tied me up. I’ll admit that I’ve never been with a woman who’s tied me up on a first date but I’m not knockin’ it.”

“It wasn’t a date,” she laughed.

“I do feel somewhat slighted. You tied me up and I didn’t even get kissed.”

Gillian’s gaze fell to his lips and her stomach did a nervous flip. She fluttered her lids, and forced herself to look away. Her heart began to race as he wiped a remnant tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

“Our second date wasn’t too much fun either. I got in a fight and ended up in the backseat with a stray cat,” he teased, his fingers playing with her hair.

“You weren’t afraid of me.”

“No, but let’s say I had a healthy respect for you. My mamma didn’t raise a fool. I’ve seen a lot of things, cher. But seeing a full grown Bengal tiger up close and personal is pretty impressive.”

“So you like my kitty?” she asked.

“Oh I like her all right, but I like who’s in front of me more.” Dimitri smiled, enjoying her flirtatious banter. His hand fell to her bare thigh, and he consciously warred to keep it from sliding up under her shirt.

“I guess I owe you that kiss, then. I mean, it is our second date, after all,” she said.

Dimitri gave her a broad smile, briefly contemplating the temptation.
Naked girl. Hotel room. Don’t do it.
But the devil on his other shoulder disagreed. After all, he just saved the girl.
What harm could one little kiss do?

Slowly, he leaned in. His gaze fell to her lips and quickly darted upward, connecting with her soul. Just one small kiss to let her know he liked her was all he needed; one to make sure she wouldn’t doubt that he wanted to see her again after they sorted out all their issues. He smiled slightly as he caught her eyes, inwardly nervous that his action would change his life.

As his lips took hers, he groaned in delight. The little minx who’d saved him tasted more delicious than he could have imagined. As he pulled her against him, he stiffened in arousal. She climbed atop, straddling him with her knees. His hands speared upward into the back of her hair. Sliding his fingers through her silken mane, he fisted her locks, drawing her closer to him still. The sweep of Gillian’s tongue against his, her soft lips against his own, drove him out of control with desire. When she placed her hands on his chest, and drew her finger over his nipple, his cock hardened to rock. As she began to grind her bared center onto his denim-covered hardness, he ripped his lips from hers, panting.

Dimitri rested his forehead against hers, his thoughts racing. He was going to fucking lose it. This woman was aggressive and sweet like honey. The craziest part about the situation was that she was right; he didn’t really know her. They’d both nearly died in the past few days. It had to be the stress of the situation that was causing his reaction to her. The chemistry was undeniably explosive. If he kissed her a second time, he’d be balls deep in sixty seconds.
Deep breath. Deep breath.

“Cher,” he breathed. “Before we do something we’ll both regret, I’m going to put you down. Okay?”

“Okay,” she nodded, still trying to catch her breath. She removed her hands from his chest and carefully slid off his lap, back onto the bed.

“Okay,” he repeated. The sexual fog lingered in his brain. He groaned loudly as he righted himself and stood. Despite the granite bulge in his jeans, he managed to hobble over to the door. “So, yeah, thanks for the kiss. Great date.”

“The best. Um, well, thank you.” She giggled, wrapping her arms around her waist. She crossed her legs, remembering they were open and that she wasn’t wearing panties.

Dimitri looked away as one leg went over the next.
Fuck, she’s going to kill me
, he thought. He curled his fingers around the doorknob, and turned it.

“I’m goin’ to let you use the shower in here. I’ll, uh, go use Jake’s…that way we won’t….you know, get in anymore trouble. I’m goin’ to order us up some room service. Come on out when you’re done.”

“Okay,” she managed, her face red with embarrassment.

“Guess I’ll go get ready for date number three. You in?” Dimitri brushed his fingers over the sensitive nipple that she’d fingered only seconds earlier, and winked.

He didn’t bother staying to watch her reaction to his invitation. As soon as he shut the door behind him, he blew out a breath as if he’d been holding it all night.
Fuckin’-A.
If he didn’t get back to New Orleans in the next twenty-four hours, he’d be dating a tiger
for real
. With his wolf impaired, he risked losing the ability to shift. No, he’d get Ilsbeth to do whatever magick she had to do to fix this mess. He swore to stay stronger than the little feline in the room next door who already had him purring.

Holy Fuck.
Gillian pressed her face into her palms as the door clicked shut.
What the hell am I doing?
She’d just climbed Dimitri like she was scaling Mount Everest. Her tiger paced, encouraging her to go after him. Gillian had never spent this much time around wolves. Being around Dimitri and Jake rocked her equilibrium. Her beast didn’t see them as a threat, leaving her mind open to the possibilities. She’d spent so much time avoiding pack members, hating what they represented - the loss of her tiger - that she’d never given much thought to what it would feel like if she liked them, or worse, desired one.

She closed her eyes, imagining her tongue tracing Dimitri’s tattoos from the curves of his shoulder to his neck. Still damp between her legs from their kiss, the thought of licking him took her breath away. Gillian knew she had to get back to her brother, beg for his help. But Dimitri was a pleasant unforeseen wrinkle in her plans.

As she pushed off the bed and trod into the bathroom, she sighed.
What am I thinking? I want to date a wolf? Just no.
The trip to California must’ve done something to her brain, because that was a rule she’d never break. It was a choice. Preserving her tiger took priority over looking for love in the eyes of a wolf.

As Gillian stepped under the hot spray, she considered what she’d do once she reached New York. Several months ago, she’d been approached by a sophisticated gentleman at a photo shoot for a new coffee club in Manhattan. He’d introduced himself as the New York Alpha, Jax Chandler, owner of the chic magazine, ZANE, who’d paid for the images. Jax and his beta, Nick Sterling, had expressed interest in seeing her portfolio with the intent of hiring her. Gillian had been thrilled with the prospect of being offered a staff position. When she called her mother and mentioned his name, she’d confessed to Gillian that she had a half-brother, who also lived in the city. An Alpha…Jax Chandler.

Gillian, concerned that he’d force her into his pack, cut off contact with Jax, giving him no explanation. If he found out that they were family, he wouldn’t relent. He’d want her to mate with one of his wolves, let her tiger die. It had crushed her to alienate her only brother. Growing up with just her mother had been a lonely existence. She’d spent many days dreaming she had a sibling, someone close who’d be family. Giving up her nature in order to gain family, however, was simply not an option.

Thanks to Chaz, Jax now represented survival. Chaz had told her repeatedly that he’d never give up on finding her, stealing her gift. Jax was the only one she could trust to protect her.

Dimitri had his own battles to fight. He didn’t need to fight hers. While he’d surprised her in the desert with his insurmountable strength, it wasn’t fair to ask him to help her. They both knew that at any moment, his wolf could falter. And what if he died because of her? She couldn’t allow him to sacrifice himself for her. She’d never let that happen.

She stepped out of the shower, catching sight of her swollen lips in the mirror. His kiss.
The
kiss. She’d felt her tiger calm in his arms, and it terrified her. The more she talked to him, the more she felt herself entangled in his web. He was charming with a flair for humor that brought a smile to her face. Dominating and sexy, his powerful presence told her that he’d take her in ways she’d never known. The thought of him driving deep inside her core made her ache with need.

She cursed, rolling her eyes. Here she was in a hotel room with two shifters, knowing full well they’d scent her arousal the second she opened the door. She had to get her shit together, or at least try not to throw herself at Dimitri…again.
For the love of the Goddess, stop thinking about sex.
Her libido was in overdrive, making her feel as if she was a hot-air balloon about to take off into the wild blue yonder.

Gillian toweled her hair dry and pulled on a white cotton spa robe. She tightened the belt around her waist and pulled the collar tight, as if it would keep her grounded. Slipping on the matching terry slippers, she shuffled over to the door. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Wrapping her hand around the knob, she opened it, praying she could resist the delicious beta in the next room.

Nothing had prepared Gillian for the heavenly scent of steak teasing her nose. Her stomach grumbled and she laughed, catching Dimitri’s hungry gaze, one that she suspected had nothing to do with the food. She noticed how Jake tensed his grip on his fork as if he was expecting a wild animal to leap at him. She laughed, finding it comical that such a strong wolf would be afraid of her.

“Hey, darlin’. Why don’t ya come sit down here?” Dimitri pulled out a chair for her and eyed Jake. “Relax, man. She’s just this itty bitty thing of a woman. She’s not going to hurt you.”

“Shut it,” Jake grumbled, not fond of being on the end of the ribbing. “Maybe I’m just allergic to cats.”

“It’s okay, really. I know that some people aren’t used to seeing me,” Gillian said softly, placing a soft hand on his forearm.

“You were really cool looking, I’ll give you that. It was a clean kill if I’ve ever seen one.” He gave her a sideways grin, beginning to feel more at ease.

“She’s one badass kitty cat, that’s for damn sure,” Dimitri added proudly.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She paused and picked up her fork. “I just want to thank you both again. I know I kind of asked you not to follow me, but I’m really glad you did. I’d be dead if you hadn’t.”

“Well, to be technically correct about it, you held a gun on us, but okay, we’ll go with asked,” Dimitri laughed.

“Threatened to shoot us,” Jake interjected.

“I know and I’m sorry.” She cut up her steak while continuing to speak. “It’s just that you saw Chaz. They’re crazy. I knew they’d follow me and I didn’t want you to get hurt. It was already my fault that…”

“Bygones, cher,” Dimitri assured her. “Tomorrow’s a new day.”

“Speaking of tomorrow, the plane should be here around twelve. We’ll fly to New York and then we’ll be back home, hopefully later tomorrow night.” Jake picked up his glass of wine and took a deep sip.

“I’ve gotta call Ilsbeth,” Dimitri said, his voice growing serious.

“I’m sure she’s got some spell that’ll help you,” Jake offered.

“What’s wrong with you?” Gillian asked quietly, almost regretting her choice of words. She’d felt a touch of the evil on his wolf. She’d healed him but knew it was only temporary.

“Nothing’s wrong with me…nothin’ date number three won’t fix, anyway,” Dimitri joked.

“No, there’s something. Your wolf…there’s something in you…”

“I don’t know,” Dimitri said, cutting her off. “I helped a friend with a bit of otherworldly business. Seems I’ve picked up some kind of traveler, for lack of a better term. I couldn’t shift that night on the beach. I’d had trouble before that, though. I thought that by getting away on vacay…maybe I’d get my mojo back. Didn’t work out so well…except for you.”