His Purrfect Mate (27 page)

She whimpered, and he peppered her skin with
kisses. Her head fell back, and she gripped his waist.

“
I want you, Aida. Bent
over accepting my cock. I want to fuck you as you scream my name.
And then fuck you more. So long and so hard you still feel me
inside you even after we collapse from exhaustion.”

Aida’s body shuddered, and she gulped even
as her fingers tightened on the flesh at his waist. Her mouth moved
but nothing came out. She stared at him with smoky eyes.

“
I can smell your arousal,
Aida. I want your cream on my tongue.” His gaze bore into
hers.

“
Stop, Dane. Please. I’m
not strong enough.”

He frowned as he drew back. “Not strong
enough for what, Aida?” There, lingering behind the desire in her
eyes, were tears.

“
I…I…” Aida
bolted.

He heard her flop on her
bed, but when he heard the light sobs, Dane strode back to the
bedroom. He watched from the doorway, his body still hard and
wanting her touch. Forcing that back, he took a deep breath and
walked to the bed. “Aida,” he said gently sitting beside her. “Talk
to me,
solnyshko moyo
.”

She didn’t speak, but rolled so he could see
her face. Tear tracks ran down her face. “I don’t know what’s wrong
with me, I’m—”

Dane slid off the bed and crouched beside
it. Resting his arms on the mattress, he lowered his chin to his
forearms. “Aida,” he murmured, reaching out with two fingers and
brushing some hair away from her face.

“
I have to protect my
heart, Dane. I thought I could do this but I can’t. I just
can’t
. I’m not strong
enough.”

“
I’m not following,
Aida.”

She opened her eyes, and like every time
faced with them, he felt himself get sucked into those beautiful
twin orbs. “Each time you touch me, or look at me like you are
right now—like I mean the world to you—more of my soul becomes
yours. And…and I’m not strong enough to withstand losing you.”

Dane felt his tiger chuff angrily at the
thought of losing her. He agreed with his beast. That was
unacceptable. Trailing a finger along the edge of her face, he
tried to smile.

“
You do mean the world to
me. Never doubt that. Why do you believe you will lose
me?”

“
I’m being
logical.”

“
Not from where I’m
sitting, mate. How can you think I’d let us be
separated?”

“
Dane, look around you.
This is South Africa. My home.
Mine.
Not yours. And we both know
you have to leave eventually. So, please, don’t make it any harder
for me, because I can’t refuse you, not even knowing how much it
will hurt later.”

She stared at him, her soul bared, and Dane
hated the devastation he felt coming from her. It rolled in
powerful waves and made him sick to his stomach. Her words were
true. This was her home. And he’d already called the general. “I
can’t ever let you go,” he swore in Russian.

Her eyes drifted closed again, and he swiped
his thumb over each one. “Is this part of the reason you are going
with Kees?”

“
Partly.” She sighed
deeply and opened her eyes, revealing those brown eyes he wanted to
drown in.

“
The general will be here
in a couple of days.”

A sad smile turned up one side of her mouth.
“I figured as much.”

Agony ripped through him. It wasn’t supposed
to be like this. He longed to scream in fury. Mates were supposed
to be together. He shoved to his feet. “I need to eat.” He stalked
to the door.

“
I’ll fix you something.”
Her voice showed him her pain.

Dane ignored it. He had to or he’d force her
to go with him. His body shuddered with longing when she touched
him and slid by to leave the room. He struggled to rein in control
before he followed. Lingering back, he observed her as she moved in
the kitchen. Every move erotic, each breath tantalized and
tormented him. He couldn’t get enough of her. They had a leisurely
meal after which he helped her clean up.

He spent a rough night. Only holding her.
Knowing she wanted him didn’t help in the least. Eventually, he
drifted off to sleep. He woke throughout the night when she would
stir and would watch her until he fell back asleep.

Over breakfast, her eyes met his, and she
smiled slightly. It was strained but it was an attempt. Before
long, they ate in silence. Aida more played with her food than
anything. And he frowned, about to say something when the phone
rang.

“
Dumela
.”

He had learned that meant “hello”. He
watched her expression sober as she spoke to the person on the
other end. Dane waited for an explanation once she’d hung up the
phone. He didn’t get it. She’d walked away so she had privacy, and
even with his hearing, he couldn’t make out what had been said.

Aida said nothing, just hurried back to her
room. He followed and got there in time to see her pull on some
army green cargo pants. She had a tight fitting khaki shirt on.
Aida was still silent when she laced on some black combat style
boots. Her appearance serious when, from the closet, she withdrew a
gun belt and hooked it around her hips. The dogs began whining.

“
What’s going
on?”

She reached in again and pulled out another
khaki shirt, a button down. He could see a badge sewn on the left
breast. Wildlife ranger.

“
Aida?”

Her gaze focused on him, and her fingers
nimbly buttoned the shirt and tucked it in her pants. “A lion
attacked one of Kees’ men. We’re going hunting.”

Oh hell no!

“
Since when are you a
ranger, Aida? This isn’t what you went to Yale for.”

Her gaze shuttered. “You’re absolutely
right. Good thing Yale wasn’t the only place I went to school.” She
grabbed the black bag by her feet and shoved past him. Her whistle
reached him.

Dane caught up to her by her vehicle.
“Aida,” he stated.

“
I don’t have time for
this. You want to yell about how much danger I’m putting myself in,
fine. Just get your ass in to do it.”

He snarled at the command. But listened and
obeyed.

Chapter
Thirteen

Aida drove fast, her mind working furiously.
Dane rode beside her. Although she couldn’t really see him in the
predawn darkness, she could feel his anger. She snuck another
glance at him. He had found her degree from Yale. The fact didn’t
bother her like she thought it might. Dane was just nosy when it
came to her; she was beginning to accept that. The Aida who’d gone
after that degree died the same day Len had. The only reason she
finished was because she knew Len would have wanted her to. So she
had. But there was no desire to continue on in that field. Much
less stay in America. So Aida had come home.

Shoving those thoughts to the back of her
mind, Aida tried to reason why a lion would be attacking. All the
lights were on at Kees’, and a few vehicles were parked around the
house.

Shutting off her truck, she jumped out and
headed toward the gathered group of men.

“
Aida!” Kees
said.

“
How’s he
doing?”

“
He’ll lose the leg, but
he’s alive.”

“
Damn it.” She shook her
head.

“
Shanie is with
him.”

“
Good.” Aida found herself
being welcomed by the other men. In her mind, she could feel the
cold tendrils of fury rolling from Dane. Turning her head, she
glared at him, knowing full well one, he was watching her, and two,
he could see her with his damn feline eyes.

Stop. Touching. Them.

Three words. Each laced with deadly rage.
Narrowing her eyes, Aida turned her back on him.

Don’t push me, Aida. I will make a
scene.

And he would. She ground her teeth before
smiling at the last man. “You guys ready?”

The air filled with the sounds of guns
cocking. “Who’s the man with the furious look on his face?” Tate
asked.

Aida didn’t even bother looking at him.
“That’s Dane. He’s a friend and one hell of a tracker, so he’s
coming along.” She sighed. “Let’s get going then.” Walking to the
vehicle where Dane waited, she ignored him and looked at her dogs.
“Time to go to work, boys.” She grabbed her rifle and tossed it
along with a box of shells to Dane.

“
Aida,” he said in a tone
that was more a hiss of air than anything.

Spinning around, she
glared at him in the light. “Now is
not
the time, Dane. I have a friend
in there who is going to lose his leg. Now, I have to go hunt a
lion. I do
not
have time for this arrogant male shit. I haven’t given you
any reason to think I’ll go from bed to bed. These are good men. My
friends. Either be nice or stay here.”

Grabbing another rifle, she signaled for her
dogs to stay and left him there to make up his mind while she went
back to talk to Kees. After a few moments, everyone drove out to
where the attack had happened. At the spot where the lion had
mauled Tenen, her dogs picked up on the scent. It didn’t surprise
her at all when Dane’s large body took up a position by her. She
watched his expression. While she doubted anyone else would pick up
on it, she could tell something wasn’t right.

She noticed her dogs. They were ready but
then her boys had never let her down. Then, she stared back at
Dane. He met her gaze and she saw the wildness at the surface.

“
What?” she
whispered.

“
Can you get them to go
back?” His tone was so completely serious, and she nodded, not even
bristling like she would normally have done. “Do it.”

“
Give me a few.” She stood
and walked to the group waiting. “Guys, look, this will take a
while. Let us track it. You have cattle to move and,” she held up
her hand to stop the inevitable protests, “you know Smythe is just
waiting to get all our land.”

Tate stepped forward. “Will you be okay with
just him?”

Aida could feel that dangerous rumble again
and nodded. “He won’t let anything hurt me. Look, I wouldn’t put
this past Smythe to have one flown in just for this purpose. You
know I can do this. Do what needs to be done with the cattle,
especially with Cal being down, Kees is short a man. We can’t give
that bastard any reason to think he’s won. I’ll be fine. I’ve got
my boys and Dane with me. Trust me, I’m very well protected.”

The men grumbled, but soon, it was just her
and Dane trailing her boys, the other men having finally left.
“Going to tell me why I did that?” she asked him the moment they
were alone again.

“
There’s something wrong
with these animals. I can smell it.”

“
Wait. Animals?” She
scanned the ground and shook her head, unable to make out the
presence of more than one lion.

“
I smell two males.” He
hunkered down and stared at the ground, his fingertips trailing
over a very faint impression in the hard terrain.

Aida ran a hand down her face, smearing the
sweat already covering her skin and crouched beside him, rifle
caught in one hand. “You said something wrong. Is that your way of
saying more of the freaky shit surrounding you?”

He turned his head and met her gaze straight
on. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

“
Great,” she muttered,
uncertainty welling up inside her. “Do you think you could keep
this mystical shit outta my country?”

“
It’s all over the
world,
solnyshko moyo
. Aida,” he said seriously, “if I tell you to do something,
do it.”

She bristled but nodded, knowing full well
he would know best how to handle it. Mystical stuff wasn’t her
strong point. Hell, there were days she tried to convince herself
she’d not even seen him shift. It was just a crazy dream.
Unfortunately, this incident made that seem more and more
farfetched.

“
Fine. Let’s go. Burning
daylight.” Aida pushed to her feet. Shouldering her rifle, she
walked toward her dogs. They tracked in silence and she froze when
an angry roar filled the air. She met Dane’s gaze and knew the
frown on his face matched the one on hers.

“
We’re being hunted,” she
said.

“
Yes. And it’s not being
done in healthy lion behavior.”

Every inch of his body screamed warrior, and
she had never been so glad to have another along. He may be pushy.
Okay, he was. He also qualified as arrogant and stubborn, but hell,
she knew as sure as she stood there he would die to protect
her.

Aida looked across the landscape. “Ghost and
the Darkness,” she mumbled.

“
What?”

She licked her lips. “Lions who made
history. Two males who seemed to take immense pleasure in hunting
and killing humans. They terrorized the construction site of the
Kenya-Uganda Railway in 1898. By the Tsavo River. Maneless lions,
although I’m sure their teeth were just as real as maned
lions.”

His eyes flashed and she saw his own
predator come to the forefront. “We need to find a secure place to
make camp. If they’re hunting us, we need to outsmart them.”

Aida agreed. “Over there.
On one of the outcroppings. We could rig it to make noise on
approach or if we take the top one, they couldn’t come down from
the top.” His gaze flickered between her, where she pointed, and a
tree. Aida snorted. “I am
not
leaving my dogs.”