Once Upon a Shifter (3 page)

She threw caution to the winds. “So do I.”

His strong fingers tightened on her elbow as he escorted her into the restaurant. “Tell me about it.”

“You first,” Raina said, as they sat at a table with a beautiful ocean view. The restaurant was elegant but not intimidating. The table was set with crystal wine glasses, but also with ordinary silverware rather than the twelve forks she’d briefly imagined as she walked in. “What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done?”

Owen hesitated long enough that she couldn’t resist teasing him.

“Are you making something up to impress me?” Raina inquired.

“No, no,” he protested. “It’s just... How about this. I’ll tell you
one
of the wildest things I’ve done. It just won’t be
the
wildest. I need to save something for later.”

So he thinks there’ll be a later
, Raina thought. She hoped he was right.

A waiter handed them drink menus before Owen could begin his story. Raina lost herself in delighted contemplation of the fanciest-sounding cocktails she’d ever encountered, from a Strawberry Tarragon Flip to a Grapefruit Rickey.

“A Scotch and soda,” Owen ordered.

With a giggle, Raina told the waiter, “I’d like a Lavender Bee’s Knees.”

Owen chuckled, but she could see that he was laughing with her, not at her. “What
is
that? Other than the girliest drink in existence— not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

With great dignity, the waiter replied, “Bombay Sapphire East gin, pressed basil, clover honey syrup, and lavender bitters.”

As the waiter left, Owen said, “I didn’t know there was such a thing as lavender bitters. I wonder what it tastes like.”

“Got me. But I don’t get that many chances to be girly, so I had to try it. I have to wear a uniform at work. It…”
It makes me look fat and ugly
, she thought. “It’s not very flattering. I stand there in my brown apron, ringing up groceries, and imagine girly things.”

“What’s your girliest fantasy?” Owen spoke lightly, but he obviously wanted to know.

Normally Raina would have changed the subject, but she felt sure that he wouldn’t laugh at her. And she so rarely met men who were genuinely interested in her, let alone her girliest fantasies, that she threw caution to the winds and told him.

“I never knew my biological parents. I spent my entire childhood in a series of foster homes.” Raina looked Owen right in the eyes as she told him, mentally daring him to pity her.

He spoke with sympathy, not pity. “That must have been tough.”

Raina nodded, not wanting to dwell on it. “Anyway, I imagine that I’m actually a princess who got kidnapped and then abandoned because of some scheme by someone trying to inherit the throne. I imagine that the king and queen have been trying to track me down this entire time, and finally they find me. And their royal messenger comes to the supermarket and says, ‘Your highness! At last we have found you!’”

Owen smiled. “And then they take you back to the palace?”

“To the beautiful palace in some tiny European country. And they throw a ball in my honor. I wear a gorgeous gown and diamonds, and princes come and beg to dance with me.” Blushing a little, she said, “I know, it’s so girly. But you asked!”

“What’s wrong with girly?” Owen’s voice lowered to a sexy rumble. “I’d wear whatever a prince wears— a sword, an embroidered coat, a crown— to get the opportunity to dance with Princess Raina.”

“You could have a broadsword,” Raina suggested. “You’d wield it in two hands. It would be so heavy, you’d be the only prince strong enough to lift it, let alone fight with it. Prince Owen the Strong!”

“I like that.”

The waiter returned with their drinks. The Lavender Bee’s Knees was bright purple, and had a swizzle stick topped with a blown-glass bee. Raina sipped it. The drink was sweet but not too sweet, floral but not soapy.

“Well?” Owen asked.

“It tastes like a field of wildflowers smells,” Raina said.

“Can I try it?” Owen asked.

“Sure.” Raina passed him the drink, secretly amused that a manly man like him would want to try her girly drink.

Owen turned the glass so his lips would touch where hers had. It was obvious that he’d done it deliberately, like a knight in a fairy tale kissing the glove that his lady’s hand had touched. It was a romantic gesture, but also deeply sensual. He wanted his lips on hers so much that he’d even press his to something that hers had touched.

At that moment, she knew that he hadn’t bid on her for charity or to keep his obligation. As she watched his full lips linger on the rim of her glass, and met the hunger in his deep green eyes, she knew that he wanted her. Wanted to talk to her, wanted her company, but also wanted her body.

Raina couldn’t deny it any longer. Owen wanted
her
— wanted all of her, as much as she wanted him. It was hard to believe, but she felt in her bones— in her heart— that it was true.

She swallowed, feeling the heat of desire course through her body. Her nipples felt suddenly tight and tingly, hardening against the satin that covered them.

Owen passed her back her drink. His fingers brushed against hers, warm and caressing, and another shock of desire jolted her. Raina was burning with the longing to lean across the table and kiss him, or reach under it to stroke his cock. She wondered if it was hard. Raina squirmed as she felt herself getting wet.

“Can I try yours?” Raina asked.

Instead of handing it to her, he reached out and held it to her lips. The intimacy of the gesture made her head swim. She could feel the heat of his fingers, almost at her lips. Raina opened her mouth. Owen tilted the glass, and a sip of the Scotch and soda flowed into her mouth. Bubbles burst on her tongue, prickling it. She swallowed. The liquid was cold, but it burned as it flowed down her throat.

Owen took back the drink. Again, he turned it to sip where her lips had touched. They’d never even kissed— they’d barely so much as touched each other— but a true intimacy had sprung up between them. Raina knew that he
would
kiss her, some time that night. Her own billionaire Prince Charming.

The waiter came up and handed them menus. Raina had always been a big girl. She exercised and sometimes she dieted it, but her body didn’t change. She’d gotten it from genetics, not from what she ate. But she’d seen how men looked at her, with disgust and contempt, when they saw her eating the same donut or pastry or hamburger they were stuffing their own faces with. She’d gotten in the habit of ordering a salad on dates, just to make sure she didn’t get that look, and then having a real dinner afterward, at home.

But surely Owen, who looked at her with both admiration and hunger— who was eyeing her every curve with naked lust— wouldn’t judge her for eating…

As if he’d read her mind, he said, “I hope you’re not one of those women who only eats salad. I was hoping to try a bite of whatever you get.”

“And you’re not a man who likes salad, huh?”

He shrugged. “Salad’s fine. On the side. If we were meant to live on nothing but greens, we’d have rabbit teeth to munch them with.”

Raina chuckled and returned to the menu, now thinking both of what she wanted and what Owen might like.

When the waiter came, she looked the black-jacketed man right in the eyes, daring him to judge her, and said, “I’d like the butter-poached lobster appetizer, and a medium-rare steak.”

The waiter merely said, “An excellent choice, madam.”

Owen ordered, “The grilled shrimp appetizer, please. And I’ll have a steak too. Rare.”

“So tell me about that wild thing you did,” Raina said as the waiter left.

***

Owen watched his beautiful mate as he told her about charging into a dark alley to scare off a mugger trying to steal an old lady’s purse. It was a true story. But he wished he could tell about the actual wild things he’d done, in his bear form.

What
was
he going to tell her? And how? His parents had both been shifters; he’d always assumed his mate would be one too, until he’d met all the eligible shifter women his family knew, and not one had called to his heart and soul like Raina did.

He had to believe that his mate wouldn’t be put off or frightened by learning that he could become a bear. Mates meant that you
would
be together forever, didn’t it? Or did it only mean that you
should
be? If Owen scared her off, would they both be lonely forever?

Their appetizers arrived, and Owen didn’t miss the glance Raina shot him, as if she expected him to judge her for eating her own dinner. A fierce anger swept over him at the thought of all the people who must have been cruel to his gorgeous mate, to do such a good job of convincing her that she wasn’t beautiful and desirable, and needed to hide her perfect self.

Track them down and rip their heads off
, his bear suggested.
They hurt our mate!

Owen shushed his bear, and instead told Raina she was beautiful and offered her a share of his shrimp. He saw that she was enjoying her food, and he enjoyed watching her enjoy it. But he barely tasted his own. All he could think of was how sexy she was, and how maddening it was to have her within touching distance and keep his hands off her.

But she’d obviously been hurt before. She kept shooting him wary looks. He didn’t want to frighten her by coming on too strong… especially since he had a secret that might be much scarier to her than a premature pass.

Owen gritted his teeth and tried not to be overwhelmed by the sight of his mate, with him at last. He breathed in the intoxicating scent of her, a delicate rose perfume and a womanly warmth beneath it, and didn’t let himself lean across the table to inhale it direct from the hollow of her throat.

When she’d told him about the foster homes, he’d longed to hold her in his arms and tell her that she’d never be lonely and unwanted again. But he’d seen that it would have been too much too soon. He’d tell her later.

The waiter cleared their appetizer plates, and brought them dinner.

Owen watched Raina bite into her rare steak. A drop of juice escaped, and she quickly swiped it up with a lick of her pink tongue. He imagined how that tongue would feel as it licked its way along his body. Licked his cock. Those luscious lips of hers, sucking his cock…

He forced his thoughts away from those fantasies. He was already so hard just from watching her, he thought he was going to rip through his pants.

They kept talking through the rest of their dinner. The time flew by. The waiter cleared away their steak plates, then offered them the dessert menus.

“Oh, I shouldn’t,” Raina said, though she shot the menu a longing look. “I’ve eaten so much tonight already. I’m supposed to be dieting.”

Owen put his hand over hers. Deliberately, he traced the delicious softness of her hand, her plump wrist, the delicate skin of her forearm. “Raina, eat as much as you want. I know people have told you that you should starve yourself to be thin, but you weren’t made to be thin. You were made to be a beautiful, big woman, and you wouldn’t be half so gorgeous if you were skinny. So you’re a big girl— so what? I’m a big guy. I can’t even buy clothes at a normal store— they have to be custom-made for me. But there’s nothing wrong with me, and there’s nothing wrong with you. You don’t have to try to change a thing. You’re perfect exactly the way you are.”

Maybe she believed him. She ordered, anyway. The next thing he knew, the waiter had brought him chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce and whipped cream. Raina got butterscotch pudding with caramel sauce and whipped cream.

He looked her over. She seemed more relaxed now. So he dipped his spoon into his mousse and offered her a bite, spoon end first. “Try mine.”

Raina parted her luscious pink lips and let him feed her. Then she picked up her own spoon. “Your turn.”

He opened his mouth. Shivers of desire ran up and down his spine as Raina fed him a mouthful of silken pudding. Of course she was his mate. She loved romantic gestures and small intimacies, just like he did. They were perfectly suited for each other.

They fed each other, alternating bites, until they were done. Then Owen remembered something.

“You never told me,” he said. “What’s the wildest thing
you’ve
ever done?”

He watched Raina take a deep breath. She bit her lip, worrying it between her white teeth, and he could tell that she was wondering whether or not to tell him. She looked like she wanted to, but the thought of it scared her, too.

Owen was wild with curiosity. “Go on. Do it.”

Her voice was low with desire, throaty like the purr of a lioness. “What I’m doing right now.”

Raina leaned forward, giving him a great view of her luscious, pearly globes. Then a finger stroked his cock under the table, sending a bolt of electric heat through his entire body. Owen nearly levitated out of his seat with surprise. He couldn’t stop himself from gasping aloud, and thrusting himself up to meet her touch.

“Raina!” His voice was the growl of a bear rejoicing in his mate’s boldness.

Take her
, rumbled his bear.
Take her now, now, now!

Naturally, that was the moment the waiter chose to stop by the table. “How were the desserts?”

“Uh…” Owen couldn’t even speak. Her hand hidden by the tablecloth, Raina was squeezing and caressing his swollen cock. Then she moved her thumb over his balls, rubbing in exquisitely tormenting circles. He felt like he was about to explode.

“Everything’s absolutely wonderful,” Raina said, her voice a little unsteady. Her brown eyes were bright with mischief. Looking straight at Owen, she deliberately licked her lips, making them glisten with a film of moisture from her wet pink tongue. “The best I’ll ever taste… I mean, tasted.”

Owen clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, forcing back a groan. That tongue of hers! His mate telling him that she wanted to taste him! Everything about Raina set him on fire.