Shifting the Night Away (22 page)

It was time. Striding over to the platform in the middle of the room, Riker stepped into the light and considered his options.
Might as well go for it.
Smirking at what he imagined Mara’s uptight face would look like, he turned to face her direction and jutted out his hips, everything about him front and center towards her.

Though she hid her face behind a thick curtain of hair, he could
smell
her embarrassment. She was a prissy girl for sure, especially now that the alcohol had cleared her system. Mara glanced over at him—she had to, after all—and her eyes rested on his body with clear lust. Riker had to hold at bay the deep purr that threatened to bubble out of his chest.
I bet I could convince her to fuck me again.
He did enjoy making her blush.
Too bad it would be a mistake.

At this point in his life, he had no interested in pursuing a relationship with anybody. Riker was a casual lay kind of guy—he never stuck with the same woman twice if he could help it. A beast prowled inside him, its desires primitive and strange. To its feline nature, a woman twice taken was a reproductive mate. That had become a problem the first time Riker slept with someone after returning from the Cave of Sorrows. Despite his determination to never see the girl again, the beast was determined to get a cub on her, and so he found himself following her everywhere to keep other males away. One fist fight with a ‘roided out idiot convinced him never to make that mistake again.

A little bit of flirting wouldn’t hurt, though.
And who knew—maybe that first time was a blip on the radar. He had better control now; surely he could keep the beast in check.

In front of him, Mara was engrossed in her drawing. He could tell that she had great passion for her art, like most of the students at Belmont College of Arts and Humanities. There was a smudge of charcoal under her left eye that she hadn’t noticed, and she seemed to have forgotten any awkwardness between them.

For a moment, Riker indulged himself in a bit of self-pity. He knew he would never be allowed to have a passion that deep for
anything
he loved. It was only a matter of time before everything was lost to him.

But the moment passed. He couldn’t pity himself with her beautiful face right in front of him.
It’s settled,
he thought, knowing he couldn’t resist her.
The beast will have to wait its turn. I want one more night with her—just one. And then I’m sure I’ll have her out of my system.

After all, it wasn’t like she was special.

***

I could almost swear his package seemed to get a little…
bigger.

It happened in a moment, but just as quickly passed.
He better not be getting an erection,
I thought, my face burning.
It’s just my imagination.

Even beneath the confines of his briefs, Riker sported a clearly large member.

“Alright, take a two minute break. Riker, make sure you stretch. I don’t want you stiffening up on us like last time.”

I almost choked at her choice in words.

“No worries, professor. I’ll take a walk around the block.”

He slipped on a terrycloth robe she handed him—something for the models to wear between long sessions, I supposed. Like the rest of the students, I took this opportunity to stretch my back and shoulders, which were sore from such a long time spent sitting on a stool.

“Can you believe him?” Kayla leaned over, her voice hushed so Riker couldn’t hear her. “I wanna lick those abs. And the tattoos. Yum yum.”

“Yeah, I guess he’s attractive,” I admitted. “Probably a jerk though.”

Riker flicked his eyes over in my direction. I knew it wasn’t possible, but it almost seemed like he
heard
me talking about him.

“How can you know if he’s a jerk?” Kayla asked, watching him walk out of the classroom. “He could be a humanitarian or something.”

I snorted. “Sure, I bet he saves kitties from trees, too.”

“Whatever, I’m not looking for a boyfriend.” She sighed, sounding lonely. “What about you? Are you single?”

“Yeah.” This conversation was getting tedious for me—there was nothing I hated more than a pity party. “Yep, no boyfriend here.”

“Really? A girl as pretty as you, single?”

I jumped, startled at a stranger’s voice behind me. One of the male students had sidled up behind us, eavesdropping on our conversation. He smiled at me, clearly thinking he was suave.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Danny.” He held out his hand. All I could do was stare at it hanging there, a frown creasing my lips.

“I’m Mara,” I said, “and this is—”

But Kayla had disappeared to the other side of the room to sharpen her pencils. I frowned at her back.

“I think she saw what was happening between us and decided to give us some space.” He leaned towards me and I instinctively leaned away. “Good friend.”

There was something slimy about this guy. I wasn’t sure what exactly dinged my sensors, but it wasn’t just the fact that he had limp, greasy hair and a slight… odor. He was
off.

“You know, I think I better concentrate on my work.” Sitting back down on my stool, I picked up a pencil and stared intently at my drawing. All around us, the room was emptying as people stepped out for bathroom breaks and gossip in the hallway. “I think I could refine things over here.”

Instead of taking the hint, Danny stepped closer to me, his breath whispering against my cheek. “You made him look
way
more muscular than he really is.” Reaching out, he brushed my hand with his own. “I can help.”

I snatched my hand away, recoiling. “I feel like you’ve gotten the wrong impression. Just because I’m single doesn’t mean—”

“That you want me?” His voice was harsh as he snapped his hand around my wrist and held me close to him. “I saw the way you were looking at that guy. Girls like you don’t say no.”

My heart was fluttering like a dying bird trapped inside my rib cage. I tried to pull away from him, frightened and angry at the same time, but he just pulled me closer.

Ominous and deep, a growl resounded throughout the room.

“Get away from her.”

Riker.
I’d recognize his voice anywhere.

Danny let go of me, backing up with his hands in the hair. “Whoa, dude. I was just kidding around with her. No need to go all macho.”

Like a blur, Riker came at him from across the room. I jumped back, watching with wide eyes as he pinned Danny to the wall. Riker’s eyes were wide and wild, as yellow as the noonday sun.

“What the fuck, dude?”

“What the
fuck
indeed.” Riker snarled, flashing his teeth. He pulled Danny up by the front of his shirt. “Mara, was he bothering you?”

Danny looked at me. “Tell him it was a joke. It was—it was no big deal.”

I looked back and forth between them, frightened. “Riker, don’t do anything to him.”

“It sounded to me like he was bothering you. It sounded to me like he was scaring you.”

I swallowed. “Yeah, he was. But
please
don’t hurt him.”

Slowly, Riker lowered Danny down to the ground. He sighed as his feet touched the floor, and I got a brief moment of enjoyment at the sight of his hands trembling.

Riker smirked, the twist of his lips predatory.

“You should go. Consider yourself kicked out of class.” Danny protested, but Riker cut him off with another growl. The sound of it made me shiver. “If you don’t leave, I’ll report you to the administration. BCAH takes sexual assault
very
seriously.”

“Okay. Okay! Dude, whatever. I’ll just transfer to another class.”

Riker let him go. I watched Danny leave, wishing I could think of some casual insult to hurl at him, but he was gone before anything came to mind.

“Mara, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” It was surreal to be standing there in the same room as him, talking like last night hadn’t happened
.
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

Reflexively, I rubbed my sore wrist. His eyes flicked to me, concern written all over his face. He seemed… bothered, pacing back and forth in front of me.

“We should get some ice for that,” he said, stepping closer. The warmth in his gaze made me want to melt into his arms—but I resisted, reminding myself that he wasn’t boyfriend material. The violence he’d shown when confronting Danny confirmed that far more than the tattoos all over his arms and chest.

“I’ll be okay. It’s really not your problem.”

“I’m just
concerned
. You don’t have to act like I have leprosy. I—” His nostrils flared as he sighed. There was more green than amber in his eyes from this angle. “I should go.”

Riker turned abruptly, leaving the room. I frowned at his retreating back, brows furrowed in confusion.

“What the hell is his problem?” I muttered to myself, staring at the sketches I’d made so far of his half-naked body as if there’d be some answer to his madness in the shape of those abs.

Chapter Eight

Naked

Riker knew he had to take deep breaths or he was going to kill someone.

It was one thing when that punk threatened her. He’d been a few rooms over, but he could hear the fear in her voice. Every ounce of self-control in him had been necessary to keep from shifting right there in the hallway. But when he’d seen her hurt—when he’d stepped close enough to envelop himself in her smell—the combination of anger and desire overcame him.

The panther inside wanted to tear out the throat of any male who came too close to a woman he considered a mate.
Fucking cut it out,
Riker thought, every muscle tense as he stood in the supply closet on the second floor next to all the still life pieces and various skeletons.
She’s not your girlfriend, you idiot.

In response, the panther prowled.

Riker balled his hands up into fists, his nails so sharp they almost pierced the skin. The pain gave him clarity though, and with some effort he pushed the beast back inside him. He knew that if he looked in the mirror, he’d see eyes more amber yellow than green, with dark pupils that were narrowing into slits.

Distantly, Professor Hickory’s voice called the students back into class. He
had
to get himself together. Taking deep breaths, he let the anger go and the panther settled down inside him.

Being near Mara was going to prove more difficult than he’d ever imagined. It would be better for both of them if he kept her at arm’s length.

A girl like that didn’t want to be anywhere near his life.

“Alright, class, let’s give our wonderful model here a break. Riker, you’re off the hook for the rest of today.” Professor Hickory threw on the overhead lights. Startled at the sunlight, I found myself blinking like a vampire walking outside at noon. “We still need to go over the syllabus for next week.”

Temptation drew me to watch Riker get dressed under his terrycloth robe. He had a strange look in his eyes—distant, almost wild. Before he left, it had seemed like he was about to tell me something, or even do something… like kiss me.

Get over it, Mara,
I told myself.
You don’t want a guy like that. Stay far away from him.
While I appreciated what he’d done for me, I knew not to get involved with a bad boy. There was no reason why last night needed to be anything more than a memory.

“You’ve had your first life drawing session today. Take the sketches you’ve made in this class, and over the next week turn them into a full drawing. Add in as many details as you can based on your sketches. Your first full-size drawing will be due one week from today.”

It looked like I wasn’t
completely
done with Riker—at least not until this assignment was over.

***

I stared at the blank page in front of me, completely unable to put pencil to paper without creating some sort of sideshow monster. My music blared through the room, but somehow my thoughts were louder than the speakers.

“Great.” Fuming at my latest wrecked attempt at Professor Hickory’s assignment, I tore the piece of paper in two and crumbled it up. “This is all
his
fault,” I muttered.

If I weren’t so preoccupied thinking about our night together, drawing Riker would have been like drawing anyone else. But every time I shaded some piece of him—arms, abs, chest, pecs—I was dissatisfied. It never compared to the real thing.