His Purrfect Mate

His Purrfect Mate

Aliyah Burke

His Purrfect Mate

Published by: Sensual Romance
Publishing

Copyright © 2013 by Aliyah
Burke

Editor: Jessica Bimberg

Cover Artist: MMJ
Designs

ISBN:
9781301562893

Dedication

To all those who’ve been waiting for Dane’s
story. I do so hope you enjoy it! Thanks to my DH who always has
words of encouragement for me when I feel like I’m about to fail.
Love you, honey. Last but never least, to the men and women who
serve this great country and sacrifice of themselves for us. God
Bless You!

Chapter One

Dane Sidorov sagged against the tree’s thick
trunk. Blood poured from his arm, running to the frozen ground.

“
Damn,” he muttered. “Much
more of this and a wet-behind-the-ears kid will be able to track
me.”

Reaching into the medpack
he carried velcroed to his uniform, Dane grabbed some bandages and
a suture kit. Gritting his teeth, he sewed up the wound, tied it
off before biting through the string, and wrapping it with the
gauze. Tugging down his shirt sleeve, he shoved his arm back into
his white parka. Sure, he didn’t
need
to do it this way, but…well, it
better...safer.

The bitter cold of the air told him he still
lived, even if he didn’t really feel that way. His ears picked up
on incoming choppers. Four of them. No doubt filled with men who’d
kill him without hesitation. Dane didn’t fault them for that. It
was their job.

Just like it’s mine to keep that very thing
from happening.

“
Crypt. Where are you?”
The question rang in his ear.

Despite the pain in his arm, which actually
was more of an annoyance than anything, he smiled at Demon’s voice.
“Fell down a rabbit hole. Have to follow my nose.”

“
Status?”

Glancing at his injured arm, Dane replied,
“I’m good. Will meet at the rendezvous site.”

“
See you
there.”

Silence reigned, and he
scanned the night sky again.
Closer. They
are much closer now.
The choppers had
grown louder. Skimming his tongue over his teeth, he began to run.
Each step he took put more distance between him and the enemy. The
urge to stay and finish what they’d started swamped him, and for a
few seconds, he stopped and hesitated, staring back in the
direction he’d come. Until duty overtook personal longings. With a
sigh, Dane moved out. He progressed slower and more cautiously,
closer to the extraction point. The hair on the back of his neck
prickled with warning. He dropped to the ground, all senses
straining to find the danger.

“
Slim,” he said, getting
in contact with the head of the unit.

“
Go ahead,
Crypt.”

“
Something’s
off.”

“
Chopper’s here. We leave
in two. Where are you?”

Dane shook his head. “It’s not right. Get
out of there.” He slithered on his belly toward the helo holding
his friends. His unit.

“
They’re coming, Crypt. We
have to get going. Get your ass here now! That’s an
order.”

“
Get out!” Dane lunged to
his feet and began to run toward the helicopter, uncaring of the
fact he totally exposed himself. “Get out of there!”

“
We’re powering up. Either
you’re here or we’re gonna have to meet you at the second
rendezvous.”

The low whine of the chopper’s engine
reached him. Dane pushed himself faster, calling on more speed. He
burst from the tree line and headed for the bird. In the splinters
of light he could make out the tense face of Doc.

Where’s Slim? He should be
by the door.
Dane couldn’t pick out his
silhouette in the interior of the helo, and he could see pretty
well. Two more steps were all he took before a fiery blast engulfed
the helicopter, lifted him off his feet, and knocked him back into
the trees. He hit hard, the sturdiness of the old tree not giving
an inch to his body.

Fragments of the helicopter rushed by him,
cutting through his parka and digging into his flesh. Dane didn’t
have time to yell before darkness overtook him.

Voices reached him, stirring him further
from the hold unconsciousness had upon him.

“
I don’t know. He should
be here. He was almost to the chopper when it blew. Hell, for all I
know his body may have been incinerated as well.”

“
Collect the rest of the
wreckage.”

That voice rang familiar. Anger stirred and
rose up within Dane. He could smell the gun oil and made out eleven
separate heartbeats. Instinct took over, and Dane lay in wait,
blending in with nature, his gaze fixed on one man of the group. A
man he had trusted with his life. He snarled silently, his
razor-sharp fangs thirsty for blood. The traitor’s blood.

“
Wreckage is gathered,
sir. No bodies. Only some blood and prints.”

“
Prints?” the man asked.
“Boot?”

“
No sir. Animal. Tiger.
And it looks like a big one.”

A loud roar pierced the frozen night. Eleven
heartbeats sped up. The scent of their fear permeated the cold air.
A smell which served to feed his desire to kill. Kill them all.

“
I think the tiger wants
us out of his area.”

“
Can’t we shoot it? Always
wanted to bag me a tiger.”

“
No! They’re very
protective of the few remaining. It’s probably tagged, and there
would be a big investigation were it to be found dead or
missing.”

“
Damn. All that care of a
dumb animal. And the people?”

“
It was a Black Op. Never
happened. Let’s go.”

As their chopper lifted off, another roar
sliced the air. One of anger, hate, and the promise of retribution
and revenge. Tawny-green-gold eyes followed the path the helicopter
flew, and when it could no longer be seen, they closed, and the
darkness came again.

Dane woke to pain. Intense, immense pain. On
its heels, anger, rage, and betrayal followed.

Give in to the rage.

Shoving to his feet, Dane pushed at the
darkness that never seemed far from consuming him—hungered to
consume him—refusing to give in to its ever-close absorption of
him. It took a moment, longer and longer each time his control was
threatened, but he wrested it back under his restraint. Done, he
took several deep breaths of the crisp Siberian air. Sinking
against the trunk of the nearest tree, he fought back the waves of
dizziness.

“
It would be so easy to
give in. Give in and heal myself.” Shaking his head, Dane swore, “I
can do this.”

The lightheadedness passed, and he slipped
back through the trees to the spot of the explosion. As he stood
upon the charred ground, he felt the land screaming in pain, and
Dane could feel the furls of anger beginning anew deep within.
Clenching his fists, he stared up at the night sky.

“
I will make them
pay.”

Bile rushed up his throat.
First, he needed to heal. And that needed to be done rather
quickly. In this weakened state, the darkness would have an easier
time of overtaking him. He needed to be sharp.
Home.

“
No! I can’t. I
won’t
.”

Risking his family was
never going to happen. It was his job to ensure his siblings were
safe. He was the oldest and would never willingly place them in
danger. No matter how capable they were, and his siblings
were
very
capable. And as perilous as he was at the moment, unsure if
he could continue to keep this darkness at bay, he wouldn’t go home
and risk his family and friends. Dane ignored his hurt, reinforced
the barriers he’d erected to keep his pain just
that—
his
—and
vanished from sight as the heavily treed forest swallowed him
up.

* * * *

Four months later in a remote village in
South Africa

I miss the
cold
.

Dane smiled at a young village boy who ran
by him at the end of the path wearing nothing but a tattered pair
of cut-off jeans. Tossing the chunk of wood onto the pile, Dane
rolled his shoulders to ease the muscles.

“
Hello, Mr. Dane.” A small
hand waved in his direction.

Shoving his fingers through his shaggy hair,
Dane waved back as he took in the large grin on the boy’s face.
“Afternoon, Tau. Where are you off to in such a rush?” He dug the
axe into the stump before him and wiped the sweat off his brow.

“
Aida comes.” The smile
grew wider if that were even possible.

It was infectious, and Dane had one on his
face as well. The children in the village could make him smile;
otherwise, he wasn’t known to do so. He kept to himself for the
most part, but the villagers had made him feel more than welcome.
He spent his days doing repairs and helping around when and where
he could.

Resting a hand on the smooth wooden handle,
he asked, “And who is Aida?” He’d met most of the people in this
and surrounding villages; Aida wasn’t a name he knew.

“
Teacher’s friend. Come,
Mr. Dane. Come!”

With an indulgent chuckle, he reached for
his shirt and drew it on over his head. “Okay, Tau, I’m right
behind you.”

As they moved toward the
schoolhouse, which doubled as a gathering area, Dane noticed Tau’s
extreme excitement, and yet, the lad tried to contain it. There
were a lot of people converging on the school where it sat nestled
under the canopy of some huge shade trees. The thick, leafy foliage
helped keep the inside cool in the African heat.
I bet the ones I don’t see are already
inside.

Dane hung back as Tau
bolted ahead, scampering up the two steps. Through the noise and
gaiety, a new voice trickled to Dane’s ears. A woman’s laugh, low
and rich, flowed over him. Thick warmed honey came to mind as he
heard it. He swallowed hard while lust and possessiveness raced
through him. It stunned him. This woman somehow had an effect on
him, and he hadn’t even laid eyes on her.
Not remotely close to what I was expecting.

The teacher strode by, a child hanging on
each leg and one around his neck. “Hey, Dane,” he said.

“
Christopher,” he replied
with a nod. “Looks like you have an armful there.”

Sparkling blue eyes stared at him. “I
wouldn’t have it any other way. Coming in?”

Dane watched the kids let go and bolt up to
the interior of the building. “Who’s Aida?”

“
A wonderful friend. I
guess you could kind of say she’s like Santa Claus to everyone
here, very giving. Aida usually brings clothing, non-perishables,
and stuff like that when she stops by. Books, pens, paper and the
like. She doesn’t come around too often but when she does,”
Christopher waved a hand around, “this is the result. Come on,
you’ll like her. She’s very easygoing.”