Claiming Valeria (18 page)

She shook her head. “You ass,” she repeated, more softly this
time.

“You said I didn’t even try. Well, I’m trying now. But I need
you to meet me halfway. Hell, I’ll go more than halfway if it means I win you back.
But I have to have something from you.
Something
.”

His eyes burned into hers, asking—no, pleading. But when she
didn’t say anything, his shoulders slumped. “I’d better let you go inside. Merry—”

She stopped him with her hand on his arm. His gaze snapped to
hers, and for a long moment, she looked into his eyes. Recalling the promises he’d
broken. Recalling him with his arm around Beatriz just a couple of weeks ago, the
two of them rank with sex.

But she also knew he was trying, with his sweet, dogged courtship,
when she knew he wasn’t a candy-and-flowers man. And then there was that rush of
love and longing she’d felt in the clearing.

Her mouth opened before she’d truly made up her mind. But it
was only because her animal knew what she wanted before she did.

“Merry and I are going on a picnic tomorrow. Why don’t you come
with us?”

Rui’s eyes widened. Then he smiled. “What time?”

The next morning, Rui had just reached Valeria’s
apartment when he saw Okeanos coming from the opposite direction.

He scowled. He knew damn well the other fada didn’t have any
business in this hall. As an outsider, Okeanos was assigned to a special guest section.
Rock Run welcomed travelers from around the world, but they weren’t stupid. No stranger
would be assigned to a section with families and unmated females.

He deliberately put himself in the other man’s path. “What do
you want?”

Okeanos returned his scowl. “I’m here to see Valeria.”

“She’s busy today. But I’m glad you’re here. We need to talk,
you and me.”

The other man hesitated before giving a short nod. It was clear
he disliked having to submit to Rui, but he was a guest and whatever his rank in
his own clan, in Rock Run he was under Rui.

“I don’t want any trouble,” Okeanos added grudgingly.

“No trouble. Walk with me, please.” Rui strolled away from Valeria’s
apartment back toward the base’s main area, and Okeanos was forced to follow. “I’ve
been looking for you. I tried to find you last night.”

After leaving Valeria, he’d gone looking for Okeanos. It was
time the man understood that she was permanently off-limits. But the sea fada had
left the base.

Uneasiness flickered across Okeanos’s face. “I was out.”

Rui couldn’t help wondering about the uneasiness, but guests
were free to come and go as they pleased. “This way, please.”

He led the way into an empty conference room and faced the other
man. “Look,” he said without preamble, “Valeria’s mine. My woman, my mate. The next
time I see you within ten feet of her, I’m going to kick your ass. Don’t talk to
her. Don’t bring her gifts. Don’t even sit at the same table. Is that clear?”

Okeanos stiffened. “She’s not yours until she accepts the mate
claim.”

Rui growled. “She will,” he bit out. “Meanwhile, stay the fuck
away from her. Better yet, go home. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve overstayed your
welcome.”

Okeanos’s gaze was a flat, hard obsidian. Rui had heard his primary
animal was a Mediterranean moray, and at that moment, he knew he was facing the
cold-eyed eel, not the man.

But Rui’s animal was an equally cold-eyed shark. It moved restively,
urging Rui to kick Okeanos out of Rock Run. Unfortunately, Rui couldn’t do that
without a good reason and the other man had been careful not to give him one.

“No,” Okeanos said after a pause that was just short of being
an insult. “I don’t think so.”

Rui’s jaw tightened. “What do you mean?”

“It means no. I’m not going to leave. I like it here.”

“Fine.” Rui felt the animal in his own gaze. “I can’t force you
to leave. But stay away from Valeria—she doesn’t want you. If you make any further
attempts to court her, I’ll view it as a challenge.”

Okeanos lifted a shoulder. “Whatever you say.” He wished Rui
a curt goodbye and headed out of the room.

Rui stared after him. Damn, he wished he could simply toss the
S.O.B. out. But the rules of
tradição
were not to be flouted.
Once Dion had
extended the clan’s hospitality
, Okeanos had as much right to remain at Rock Run as Rui himself
.

And the man was right. Valeria wasn’t Rui’s until she accepted
his claim—and everyone knew it.

He’d been looking forward to the picnic ever since last
night, but now he wondered if it was as big a step as he thought. Maybe she’d asked
him out of pity—or for Merry’s sake.

He slammed the edge of his fist against the wall, then stood
there, head down and one arm against the cold stone. He’d spent two weeks courting
the woman and she was still as closed to him as ever. What was holding her back?

The first time it had been so easy. The two of them had connected
almost instantly. He hadn’t given her pretty words, just told her in raw, blunt
language how much he wanted her. Fortunately, she’d felt the same way and by the
end of the first week, he had her in his bed.

She hadn’t seemed to want or need to be courted. “I can read
your heart in your eyes,” she’d told him.

He’d been poised above her body, ready to enter her. “
Sim
?”
he’d replied, a little uncomfortably. He was still getting used to this mating business.
“What does it tell you?”

Her lips had curved. “That you’re mine. And I’m yours.”

His heart had constricted. To hide his confusion, he buried his
face in her neck and began to move in her. “Read this,” he growled against her soft,
sweet-smelling skin. “It’s saying I want to fuck you.” He punctuated his words with
a firm thrust.

She chuckled lowly and twined herself around him as if she’d
never let him go.

Deus
, he’d been an ass to throw that away. Rui shook
his head and left the conference room. He needed a drink. Now. Instead of continuing
to Valeria’s apartment, he turned toward the base’s wine cellar.

He was halfway there when he pulled himself up short.

No, damn it. She asked you to a picnic. This is your chance,
asshole. Don’t blow it now.

He wrenched himself around and strode to his room, where he gulped
down two glasses of water in quick succession. He’d thought he’d mastered the craving,
but it clawed his gut, as bad as it had ever been.

He bent his knees and clenched his fists, sweat beading his forehead,
battling for control with every ounce of willpower he could summon. The wave crested,
leaving him sucking in breaths. He got another glass of water and washed his face
with trembling hands.

Then he sank to his knees and asked whatever gods there were
to help him win Valeria, once and for all.

Because without her, all the denial, all the training he’d put
himself through until his muscles shrieked for mercy, all those damn glasses of
grape juice when he thirsted for just one sip of wine, all those long, dark hours
in the middle of the night when he ached for his woman but forced himself to stay
away from her until he’d mastered his demons…without her, all of it was for nothing.

* * *

Valeria was packing her knapsack for the picnic when
Rui knocked. Merry was at the door in a flash.

“
Bom dia
, Tio Rui!”

“Hello,
princesa
.” He swung her into his arms with the
smile he reserved just for her, and Valeria found her lips curving as well.

He turned to Valeria, taking in her short green-and-white flowered
sundress with very male approval. “Ready?” he asked, but before she could reply,
he used his free arm to pull her close for a kiss.

As their lips touched, something dark flashed along the mate
bond, so quickly she couldn’t identify it—danger? Anger? Fear?

She searched his face. “Are you all right?”

His expression was almost too bland. “I am now.”

She nodded, not wanting to press him in front of Merry. After
slipping on a pair of sandals, she picked up the knapsack and together, the three
of them headed for the marina to check out a dinghy. Although it had a small outboard
motor, Rui took the oars.

Valeria directed him upriver to one of the small, uninhabited
islands on the Susquehanna that were part of Rock Run’s territory. “We can picnic
on the beach, and Merry can practice her swimming.”

“Sounds good,” he said and turned the dinghy toward the island.

Merry was thrilled to be on an outing with her favorite man and
chattered the whole way to the island. Rui listened indulgently, but gazed alertly
around him as he pulled on the oars. Valeria knew a part of him would always be
the hard-eyed assassin, and right now she found that reassuring. She hadn’t forgotten
Lord Adric and his flat bronze gaze, even though he seemed to be lying low for now.

Two seagulls screeched nearby, fighting over a fish. Merry whipped
her head around and went silent, staring fixedly at the gulls, her nose twitching.

“Cats,” Valeria mouthed at Rui, and they both grinned.

They reached the island and climbed out of the dinghy. Merry
changed to her jaguar and got down to the serious business of climbing trees. Valeria
felt a twinge of guilt, watching her. Her cat needed to be outside, running, climbing
trees, learning all the things a cat needed to know. A river fada would happily
spend most of his or her time in caves or the water, but earth shifters needed land
and space to play.

Rui shook his head. “Cats and trees, huh?” He and Valeria shared
another grin.

Like two proud parents
, she thought, and the idea was
at once strange and exciting.

Rui’s eyes narrowed and he stalked closer. “But on the other
hand, it gives me the chance to do this.” He took her by the shoulders and gave
her a long, deep kiss. “
Deus
,” he muttered against her mouth. “Do you know
how much I want you?”

“Mm.” She pressed a kiss to his jaw, already shadowed with dark
stubble even though she could tell he’d shaved that morning. He’d shucked his T-shirt
in the dinghy, leaving him clad only in a pair of gray-and-black patterned board
shorts, his upper body tanned and fit from all the swimming he’d been doing.

She slid a hand between them, lightly tracing his scar. It felt
cool, the raised line barely detectable. “It’s healing well.”

“Is it?” He nuzzled her hair, traced the shell of her ear with
his tongue.

She forgot all about his injuries as she moaned and slid her
hands up his abdomen, reveling in the chance to feel his taut, sun-warmed skin beneath
her fingers.

Then she remembered that shadow on the mate bond earlier. She
drew back to scrutinize his face. “Something was wrong this morning.”

He hesitated, and she tensed. If he held back from her now, she
wasn’t sure there would ever be a chance for them.

“I had a talk with Okeanos. Told him to stay away from you.”

She let out a breath. “Is that all?”

“You don’t mind?”

She gave an emphatic shake of her head. “Petros and I are through.
I may not be sure what I want for you and me, but I
am
sure I don’t want
him.”

“Good.” His tone was forceful, even arrogant, but she could hear
the relief beneath it.

“But that wasn’t all, was it?”

“No.” He glanced away. “Sometimes I’m afraid,” he admitted lowly.
“That I fucked up too bad for you ever to forgive me.”

She swallowed. The part of her that had never stopped loving
him wanted to reassure him, tell him not to worry, everything was okay. But even
though they’d both come a long way in the past couple of weeks, she wasn’t ready
to trust him with her heart. And he’d scent a lie.

“I don’t know if I can either,” she said. “But I’m trying. Don’t
give up on me, okay?”

“Never.” He cupped her cheek with one hand. “As long as you don’t
give up on me.”

“Let’s just take it one day at a time, all right?”

“All right.” He rested his forehead against hers. “And thank
you, Valeria.”

His hand came to her nape, the other sliding down to her ass,
fitting her body to his as he sealed their agreement with a slow, sweet kiss. Her
breasts pressed against his chest through the thin cotton dress, his erection hard
against her belly. Arousal spiked through her, a hot liquid ache that made her undulate
against him.

“
Deus
,” he breathed against her lips, and it was a prayer.

She had her leg twined around his, her hands caressing his shoulders
when he muttered, “Hell. Merry’s coming.” He turned so that his arm was around her
waist and they were facing the tree by the time Merry came into view, her jaguar
leaping happily from branch to branch as she descended the tree.

Valeria drew a breath, trying to calm her racing heart. Her gaze
went to Rui’s. His eyelids were drooping half-shut, the irises a smoky green.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said with a playful slap on
her bottom.

She rested her hand on his own butt and squeezed. “Like what?”
she asked innocently.

“Like you want to eat me up—or maybe be eaten, hm?” He gave her
another smack before moving away to catch Merry as she leapt the last few feet to
the ground. “How about lunch,
princesa
?”

He bent his dark head next to her furry gold-and-black one. She
rubbed against his cheek and then curled up in his arms in a relaxed little ball.

Valeria felt a shock of yearning. She
wanted
this—Rui
in her life—for her and Merry both.

She swallowed hard and knelt down on the plaid blanket she’d
brought to set out the picnic. Merry eagerly ate a tuna fish sandwich and a peach,
washing it down with a glass of cold milk from the thermos Valeria had packed.

Rui filled a plate for Valeria, then coaxed her to eat every
bite. “I like something to hold onto in bed,” in a low, wicked voice that had her
face heating.

“I am hungry,” she admitted as she accepted the peach slice he
was urging on her. “It must be the fresh air.”

He took a slice for himself. “And the company, no?” He slanted
her a grin that reminded her of the old Rui and popped the morsel into his mouth.

With lunch over, Merry stretched out in the sun and fell asleep,
while Valeria and Rui dozed on the blanket nearby in the shade.

Valeria was dozing off when Rui said her name. “Yes?” she said
without opening her eyes.

He brushed his fingers down her cheek. “I just want you to be
clear on something. I’ll never give up on you, not if I have to wait a hundred years.”

She opened her eyes to see him looking down at her, his gaze
so tender it made her breath hitch.

His voice deepened. “You’re mine, Valeria. My woman. My mate.
I’ll do my best to be patient, but I won’t change my mind.”

Her heart skittered. She was too honest to call it fear. Hearing
him call her his mate in that low, intense voice sent a thrill through her entire
being. She set a hand on his bare chest and leaned in to kiss him. She didn’t often
touch him first, and his body stilled. She could feel his heart beating beneath
her palm, but he remained still save for parting his lips so that she could slide
her tongue into his mouth.