PrimalFlavor (12 page)

Because she thinks you want forever with Colette
, his
conscience told him. The tiger didn’t know what the big deal was. It wanted
forever with Colette. Expected it.
Mate
, it growled in his mind as he
watched her laugh with her brothers, taunting them with bites of the cake he’d
made. She glanced over at him, some of her laughter fading as awareness crept
into her eyes again. The scent of her desire called to him, but so did the
spice of her uncertainty and a dash of fear. It pissed his tiger off because it
knew she wasn’t scared of him so much as what he wanted from her.

Zach’s world tilted on its axis. He could do exactly as he’d
planned when he first saw her and get her in bed, fuck her the way his body
demanded. It would be great, beyond great really. She’d enjoy it too. He’d make
sure of that. But suddenly sex didn’t seem like enough. Oh, he would get it. He
just had to figure out how to make it a permanent kind of thing. Which meant he
had to figure out some way to win her father over.

I told you so.

Zach growled at his tiger.

It was the strangest dinner Colette had ever shared with her
family. Not because they had a guest, but because of who it was. Zach should
have looked out of place at her mom’s table, his stunning good looks enough to
make her forget about food a couple of times, yet he appeared completely
unfazed by the glares her dad threw his way. He and her mom chatted about
recipes as though they’d been friends forever, while her brothers bugged him
about the rock stars living in Maison Rouge.

Colette hadn’t been able to think of a single thing to say
to him after he’d fed her the most decadent cake she’d ever tasted. She cast a
wistful glance at the box on the counter. Her mom had taken the cake away from
her, declaring it would spoil her dinner. Whatever. Everyone in Bayou Ange knew
Colette ate like three grown men. She couldn’t help it. If she didn’t burn so
much energy working and hunting, she’d be as big as a house and she didn’t
care. Food, especially the Cajun-Haitian-fused cuisine her mom made was her biggest
weakness. But desserts were her other weakness, something Zach’s bakery had
proven to her again and again. How could she have purposely cut off her sweets
supply? She had to be some kind of idiot because God Himself would’ve loved
that cake.

That cake. She purred in the back of her throat at the
memory of the silky chocolate melting on her tongue. Zach shot a look her way,
no doubt his sharp ears able to pick up the small sound she made over her
brothers’ loud talk. Her cheeks heated, her pussy giving a hungry little quiver
that had her squeezing her thighs together. God, horny in her mama’s kitchen.
It was blasphemous, but she couldn’t seem to help it. Not with him here in her
territory, his big body sprawled in the chair as though he’d visited her mom’s
house all his life. But there was no forgetting who or what he was. It was
there in the way he studied them, the predator studying her family in turn
before watching her with a hunger she knew was all about sex.

And suddenly, even though she knew she was still in her mom’s
kitchen, Colette was right back there on her sofa with Zach’s heavy frame
pinning her down. Back on her kitchen table with her pussy riding his mouth as
she took his cock between her lips. She experienced it all over again, the
close intimacy of him feeding her, their faces only inches apart. Her gaze
dropped to his lips as he smiled at something her brother Daniel said. Those
lips had tasted and sucked at her, his tongue had lapped at her until she
thought she would die. Until she thought she had died. Heat speared her pussy,
leaving her soft and wet for him all over again.

His nostrils flared, drawing her gaze upward. He watched
through hooded eyes, the glinting gold reminiscent of what he’d looked like the
night before. She knew he could smell her over the food. Knew he was probably
hard as a rock beneath the fly of his jeans, the crown of his dick slick with
desire. Colette’s breath quickened at the thought. There were many things she
regretted about the night before.

She hadn’t let him kiss her again. Why had she turned away
from him? Because she feared him even as she wanted him. Zach could hurt her
badly. His reputation as a free spirit, a male who enjoyed sex and none of the
ties that went with a relationship had preceded him. And yet she didn’t care. Sort
of. Despite his possessive, demanding words the night before, claiming her as
his, she knew it’d been lust talking. Not him. And he hadn’t exactly fought to
kiss her, to claim her lips. Her cheeks burned. Well, not the lips on her face
at least.

She reached for her glass of ice water and gulped it down.
It didn’t help, the same way it hadn’t helped any other time she tried to cool
herself from the inside out. The quirk of his sexy mouth suggested he knew
exactly what she was trying to do, just as he knew it wouldn’t work worth a
damn.

Colette dropped her glass at that quirk, the heavy glass sliding
from her fingers to hit the table. It drew the attention of her family who all
stared at her as though she’d lost her mind. Well, the men stared at her. Her
mama gave her a knowing smile before looking back down at her plate. Following
suit to avoid drawing more attention her way, not in the least bit interested
in food for the first time since she could remember, Colette pushed her beans
around.

Another thing she regretted about the night before was that
she hadn’t felt what it was like to have Zach’s dick spread her pussy wide,
stretch her inner muscles and slide home with one hard thrust. Her fork almost
slid from her hand as her fingers set up a tingling that had nothing to do with
lack of sensation and everything to do with the remembered feel of his bare
skin. Golden satin stretched taut over muscles that flexed as he moved over
her, the slick glide of his cock along her stomach, the wet trail of her pussy
on his stomach. She wanted to be in charge. She wanted to have him beneath her,
at her mercy, her body—

“Right, Colette?”

She almost strangled on her tongue. Instead, she jumped and
bit it, her head jerking at the sudden intrusion into her dirty, nasty, sexy
thoughts. The taste of blood flooded her mouth, but she only betrayed the pain
by the smallest wince. Everyone was looking at her again.

“What?” she asked when they continued staring.

Daniel rolled his eyes, shooting Zach a commiserating look
as though to say “women”. She was going to kick his ass as soon as she could
walk straight.

“Zach wanted to know if he could take the swamp tour
tomorrow,” he said slowly and carefully. “I told him we didn’t have any clients
scheduled, so you could probably do a short tour, right?”

“Well now,” her dad said loudly, looking between her and
Zach as though he wasn’t sure he liked that. “Tomorrow’s Colette’s day off.
Weren’t you going to New Orleans to visit your Uncle Sun and Aunt Antoinette
tomorrow? Isn’t Kanda expecting you?”

That naturally had Colette’s mom looking up from her plate
in shock. It was no stretch of the imagination to say Willis Robicheaux did not
get along with his brother-in-law. It was a “hunter, nearly extinct species
thing” that started the minute Sunan Banthao, a Thai immigrant who was also a
clouded leopard shifter, learned his mate was related to a hunter. The two men
were never seen in each other’s company, didn’t speak of each other—as though
ignoring the other meant they didn’t exist, but neither did they attempt to
stop their wives and children from being friendly. It was a silent feud no one
spoke about, but for Colette’s dad to throw an impromptu trip to New Orleans to
visit a shifter he didn’t like meant he was desperate to get her away from
Bayou Ange.

He ignored the incredulous stares Colette and her mom sent
him, turning to Alcide, whose eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “You can take
him on the swamp tour.”

Alcide gaped. “You mean, you’re letting me drive the airboat
again?”

Her dad opened his mouth and closed it again, a chagrined
expression on his face. The last time Alcide had taken the airboat out, he’d
somehow gotten a thick cypress branch caught in the propellers, causing
extensive damage and had nearly gotten himself killed at the same time.
Colette, along with everyone else, waited to see what the patriarch of their
family would say.

The minute stretched out and she couldn’t help but glance
over at Zach to see how he was taking this obvious ploy to keep them apart. He
didn’t seem worried in the least. He sprawled with one arm draped over the back
of the chair, the other drawing patterns on her mom’s tabletop, his heavy-lidded
stare trained on her. Her palms grew damp. The small smile playing at the
corners of his lips seemed to suggest he gave a rat’s ass what her dad planned.

Considering how he’d slipped into the neighborhood and left,
without anyone but her knowing, she figured he probably had a right to be smug.
She really shouldn’t have thought of that again because it reminded her of what
he’d done when he arrived in Bayou Ange. The spark in his eyes told her he knew
exactly where her mind had gone.

“That’s enough,” her mama said firmly, silencing everyone at
the table and drawing Colette’s attention. “Alcide is not driving the airboat.
At least not until I’ve gotten grandchildren out of him.” Her brother squawked
but it did no good against his determined mom. “He’s going on the boat with you
tomorrow as planned while Daniel takes Beau’s place, the way y’all were
planning to do all season. Colette will take the
chat
on a tour of the
swamp and that’s it.
Fini.
”

Alcide continued mumbling under his breath, but dropped his
eyes to the table in front of him, unwilling to challenge their mama when she
got that expression on her face. Not even Colette’s dad gainsaid her, although
his body language spoke volumes. He glared at Zach, eyes glittering with anger.

“Now, how did the hunt go?” Mama asked with false
brightness.

* * * * *

Hours later, Zach crouched in the shadows behind Colette’s
house, waiting for her father to leave. The older man had walked his daughter
home, bringing a dog with him. The hound had gotten a whiff of Zach’s markings
all over the place and refused to go near it. Listening to Colette and her dad
curse as they realized all her traps were scent-marked by him, had him
rethinking the means he used to keep others at bay. He hadn’t given any thought
to what would happen with her traps and equipment once he marked it. His only
concern at the time had been making sure the damn wolf knew she was off-limits.
Now though, realizing she was going to have to have new traps made and spend
hours trying to clean the ones he and the wolf hadn’t smashed, he wanted to
gnash his teeth in frustration.

“You shouldn’t see him,” her father said in disgust as he
helped her sort equipment that could be salvaged from the mess they’d left
behind. “He’s nothing but trouble.”

Instead of arguing, Colette shrugged. “That’s what Mama said
her dad told her about you when y’all started dating,” she said absently,
picking through the smashed crab traps. “Besides, I’m not dating Zach. He’s
just coming around because he’s bored.”

If her father hadn’t looked as though he could spit bullets,
Zach would’ve stormed out of the brush and stalked Colette up those stairs
again so he could paddle her ass in private. And this time he’d really do it.
She thought the only reason he was hanging around was because he was bored? Her
dad seemed just as insulted, but for an entirely different reason.

“I don’t like it,” he spat and folded his arms over his
chest. “You’re not some kind of toy he can play with and go on his way when
he’s finished with you.”

Colette said nothing in response and after several minutes
of silence, Willis sighed heavily and caught her arm as she went to walk past
him. With the familiarity of a parent knowing when he stepped over the line, he
pulled her into his embrace, hugging her tight.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered after nearly squeezing her to
death. “You’ll always be my little girl, yeah? You deserve a good man who will
take care of you, not someone who just wants to have a good time.” He leaned
away to look her in the face. “How about Pierre Dubois,
hanh
? He’s a
good provider and he cooks too. Maybe not as good as the tiger, but he makes a
good sauce picante.”

Zach vowed to find this Pierre Dubois and castrate him,
especially when Colette gave a little laugh. Yes, the rival had to go. Why she
hadn’t told him about this Pierre character was something he’d find out as soon
as he had a moment alone with her. Tonight. Colette thought he’d put his mark
on her and her home before? She hadn’t seen anything yet. As for her dad, he’d
have to work out exactly how to win the old Cajun over. Cooking hadn’t worked.
The man approved of this Pierre guy because he would be a good provider.

He and his tiger almost snorted at the thought. Who better
to take care of a female than a shifter who could hunt with her? A male who
could cook her all the sweet delights she seemed to love? There was no way he’d
ever forget the look of ecstasy on her face as she sat down with her
after-dinner dessert. He’d always assumed the phrase “the way to a man’s heart
was through his stomach” applied only to men, but he was quickly learning his
Colette was a woman who adored food. He was a chef. He created dishes that had
members of Hollywood’s A-list begging him to cook for them. His desserts were
quickly becoming a tourist attraction and the demands to ship internationally
had grown over the last year. There was no way this Pierre person cooked better
than he did.

So no, he wasn’t worried about some human winning Colette
from him. She was too wild and predatory herself to ever be content with a
non-shifter. His tiger purred softly as it watched her work with her dad, the
fine muscles of her body moving together in a symphony of lethal grace.
Tonight, he was going to have her. Tomorrow, they were spending the day
together under the guise of a swamp tour. He licked his lips. He’d have to work
double-time when he got back to the bakery in a couple of days, but it would be
worth it because he planned to fuck Colette until they were both raw and barely
able to move.

A plan solidly in place, he rested on the cooling soil,
watching father and daughter work together in perfect synchronicity. It was
evident this wasn’t the first time they’d cleaned up, or worked on traps,
because as one would do something, the other was there to provide help without
being asked. Even knowing Willis was his main obstacle to being with
Colette—well, besides her continued belief that he was just amusing himself
with her—there was something poignant about watching them together. He couldn’t
help but picture this same type of scene, but instead of Willis and Colette as
the stars, it was Zach and a little girl with her mama’s violet eyes.