Tempting His Mate (7 page)

As always there was a small bit of discomfort that was quickly followed by a rush of euphoria as she stood on her human legs. After expending so much energy, the cold was more biting now. When she bent to pick up her pajamas, she realized Asher wasn’t watching her.

His profile was to her as he clipped out one word answers to whoever was on the other line. She could have eavesdropped if she’d wanted, but chose not to. It was impolite and most shifters learned to ignore background noise from a young age.

She quickly pulled her thin top on. As she tugged her pants up, Asher let out an angry curse before ending his call.

He pinned her with those piercing green eyes and she knew that whatever he was about to say, she wasn’t going to like it. A shiver of fear threaded up her spine.

“Someone broke into your office. It’s been trashed.”

Chapter 7

Asher pressed the button to the elevators as he waited with Ella. “Why don’t you just wait in my office and—”

“No.” Ella stuck her chin out mutinously. “I’m going to check out the damage in my office. I want to see how bad it is.”

He resisted the urge to order her to the security floor instead. It would be a fruitless effort, especially when she was this agitated. He didn’t blame her, not when it was her office that had been trashed. One of his security guys had contacted him when a guest had called making complaints about strange noises above them. He and Ella had hurried back to her place where she’d changed clothes, then they’d headed straight over.

“Fine,” he muttered as the doors whooshed open.

Annoyance rolled off Ella in waves, the scent growing stronger as they rode the elevator in silence. When the doors opened on her floor, she darted past him before he’d taken a step.

Gritting his teeth, he hurried after her. It wasn’t that he was worried about her safety, not with so many pack members and himself around, but he wasn’t sure how bad the damage was yet. He didn’t want it to upset her. Grant, Max and a few of the security guys were standing outside her door talking. They stopped when they saw him and Ella striding toward them.

Grant seemed surprise that Ella was there, but didn’t say anything about her presence. Just nodded at both of them, then held his arm out to the open door. “We haven’t touched anything, just scented the scene.”

Asher’s eyes widened at the destruction. In front of him, Ella gasped, but he couldn’t see her expression as she turned, taking in the entirety of the room. The window had been opened again, but part of the latch was on the ground. Clearly someone had just torn the window open using supernatural strength. And he had no doubt that whoever had done this was supernatural.

Holes had been punched in the ceiling and through the walls. Oddly enough, the art had been removed and placed against the big windows. It hadn’t been destroyed. And neither the desk nor her chaise had been broken. So he didn’t think this was about random vandalism. No, someone was looking for something. Plaster littered everything, making the scene initially look worse than it was. The cleanup would be a pain.

He frowned when his gaze landed on the chaise again. “Where’s your computer?”

She glanced up at him. “I took it and a couple boxes home with me.”

“Good.” He turned as Grant and Max entered the room, their expressions grim. “Do we know if they took anything?” His security team had already let him know that there was no video feed of the intruder, though there were a couple guys still combing over the videos anyway.

“Not sure,” Grant said as he looked at Ella.

She shook her head before turning back to the scene of chaos. “I need to check my files, but there’s not much in them anyway. I took almost everything home. This scene is weird though…” She trailed off, shaking her head.

Asher nodded in agreement. “It’s like someone was looking for something.” Otherwise, everything would have been destroyed. “Who had this office before?”

“The human I bought this place from.” Grant’s voice was tight with restrained rage.

Asher knew he had to be keeping a tight control on his wolf now. Breaking into a pack’s place of business like this was just not done. Not without definite retaliation. Grant couldn’t appear weak to anyone so they needed to find whoever had done this, and soon. “I’ve got a file on him. I’ll start running all his records, see what I come up with.” That was just the beginning.

Grant nodded. “Good. I’ve already put out feelers to my human contacts in the city, looking for any whispers of someone with a beef against the pack.”

Though he hated to ask, he turned to Ella. “Do you have any enemies, anyone who would want to hurt you?”

Frowning, she shook her head. “No, and this doesn’t feel personal anyway. Otherwise, they would have destroyed my stuff or broken into my home. Not my office. Right?”

He nodded slowly. “Probably.” Asher still wasn’t ruling anything out. Since he wasn’t sure the threat wasn’t personal, he was going to make sure Ella had security 24/7. “I want to go through all the files you received from the previous owner.”

“Of course.”

“And I’ll be staying with you until we figure out who’s behind this.” He wasn’t asking.

It was as if his announcement sucked all the air out of the room. Grant and Max were silent and even the shifters hovering outside the door seemed to have grown quiet too.

Her gaze narrowed a fraction. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

Hell yeah, he did. She was his whether she realized it or not and he was going to make sure nothing happened to her. “I’m not taking the chance with your safety.”

Sighing, she nodded. “Okay.”

Could she sound any less enthusiastic? Asher hated the circumstances, but he was still looking forward to sharing a roof with her. Unfortunately she didn’t seem to share the sentiment.

“Is there a chance this has anything to do with why you left your pride?” Max asked, his expression thoughtful.

Ella paled at the question, quickly shaking her head. “No.”

Frowning, Asher looked between the two of them, then focused on Ella. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Grant cleared his throat when she didn’t respond. “Listen, meet me in my office in a few minutes,” Grant said to Asher, then nudged Max.

When they’d left the office, Grant pulling the door shut behind them, Asher turned to face Ella again. “What was Max talking about?”

Her chin came up. “It has nothing to do with this. Trust me.”

“Ella.”

She rolled her eyes, but wrapped her arms around herself defensively. “The reason I relocated is because my ex-boyfriend and sister, uh, recently got mated. And married. It’s not a big deal, but I just didn’t want the hassle of all the stupid pitying from my pridemates. I’m the one who dumped him, but…” She trailed off again and even though she tried to hide it, he could see the hurt lurking in her dark eyes.

The loser had lost Ella, then gone after her sister? Asher’s hands automatically balled into fists. It pissed him off that anyone would hurt her like that. “Did your sister talk to you about it first?” he asked.

Jaw clenched, she shook her head. “I found out when they announced it to the entire pride. I just wish she’d told me first. After that things were awkward between us. It was like she was avoiding me, but then when we were in the same room she’d be overly excited to see me and overly nice. It made things weird and uncomfortable.”

Oh, shit. Some things were inevitable and her sister mating with her ex was in the realm of possibilities in a big pride or pack. The choices of mates could be smaller if a shifter wasn’t interested in humans. But to
not
tell her sister first? “That sucks.”

She let out a startled laugh at his words as she let her arms fall from their tight grip around herself. “Yeah, it does. But, I’m almost ninety-nine percent sure that has nothing to do with this,” she said, motioning to the room.

He agreed. Seeing the remnants of pain lingering in her eyes, he reached out and cupped her cheek. She looked surprised as he stroked his thumb over her soft skin, but didn’t pull away.

“I didn’t realize that’s why you’d left your pride. I’m sorry that was the reason, but I’m not sorry you’re here, Ella.”

She swallowed hard. “I’m not sorry either.” The heat simmering in her gaze was enough to make him throw all common sense out the window.

What he wouldn’t give to lean down and kiss her, to claim her full lips so that she’d know she belonged with him. But now was definitely not the time or the place. Though he hated to lose that contact, he let his hand drop and took a step back. “I need to take care of some stuff here and figure out a plan with Grant and Max, but I’m sending one of the guys home with you—Davis if you’re comfortable with him. If you don’t mind, would you start looking through the accounting files to see if anything sticks out to you? I want to look at the records and I know Grant will too, but you’re the pro.” It was after midnight so he hated asking her to stay up, but he wanted to hit the ground running with this investigation.

She nodded. “Of course. I couldn’t sleep now anyway.”

She definitely wouldn’t be if he was next to her. “I wasn’t kidding about staying under the same roof as you. You can stay with me or I’ll stay with you. You can choose.”

She paused for a long moment and when she finally spoke, she stole his breath. “Stay with me. I want your scent on my sheets.” Face flushed, she turned for the door.

Those few words made him go rock hard in an instant. Asher forgot how to speak. Hell, he forgot how to breathe. By the time his brain had registered what she’d said, she’d turned and made it to the door. She was already leaving with Davis when he finally got his body under control. Probably a good thing because right now he didn’t trust himself around her.

* * *

Asher quietly shut the front door to Ella’s place behind Davis and locked it. He’d taken a lot longer than he expected outlining an investigative plan with Grant and Max, and meeting up with a couple human contacts who knew about the existence of supernatural beings. His alpha had also reached out to some of his vamp friends, but so far no one knew who might be targeting the Kincaid pack.

Of course they hadn’t ruled out the possibility that this had something to do with the previous owner. If anything, Asher was more convinced that was the problem. The destruction was so targeted. Right now, he shoved those thoughts aside and let all his focus stray to the sensual jaguar shifter sleeping just down the hallway.

According to Davis she’d finally gotten tired and headed to her bedroom half an hour ago. He couldn’t blame Ella; it was three in the morning. Her comment about wanting his scent on her sheets was still driving him crazy. Though he’d never been to her room before, the layouts of the condos were similar, so he easily located the master bedroom. He could have just followed her scent anyway. That sun, sand and sex scent consumed him in her home.

Her scent teased him as he quietly opened her bedroom door. Her breathing changed the moment he pushed it open. He hated that he’d woken her. “Ella?” he whispered, even though he could see her clearly with his supernatural sight.

In the middle of a queen-sized bed, her back was to him. Yawning, she stretched her arms above her head as she turned over. The sheet was pulled up to her chest, but he could see the thin straps of her top—which told him she was wearing clothes. Much to his disappointment.

“Hey, did you just get in?” Her voice was thick with sleep.

Stepping into the room, he discarded his shirt, but kept his pants on. Just seeing her stretched out in bed was enough to drive him crazy. “Yeah. I’ll tell you more about everything in the morning…Right now I want to hold you.” Putting himself out there made him feel vulnerable in a way he wasn’t used to. But for Ella, it was worth the risk of rejection.

The scent of her arousal filled the room. Wordlessly she pushed the thick comforter down on the other half of the bed to make room for him.

After taking off his socks and shoes, he slid in next to her. Her curtains were drawn, giving them complete privacy from the outside world. But her bathroom door was open, the moonlight from the window in there bathing part of the room in a soft glow.

On instinct, he reached out and tugged her close. His inner wolf immediately calmed when she snuggled up against him, laying her head on his chest. She wrapped her arm around him and threw a leg over his middle as she plastered herself to him. With her petite frame she fit perfectly against him. Her lush breasts pressed into his side and he didn’t bother fighting his erection. If Ella was on him like this, he was going to be aroused, plain and simple.

“You’re the best pillow,” she murmured into his chest, her voice still raspy with sleep.

He chuckled lightly, stroking his hand up and down her spine. Holding her like this was surprisingly calming. Through her flimsy top, he could feel her heat. “I don’t know how to take that.”

“It’s definitely a compliment.”

His grip around her tightened. Asher wasn’t much of a talker, especially after living so long on his own. Yeah, he’d kept in contact with some of his cousins and had made a lot of friends over the decades, but opening up to people was foreign. Something told him that he needed to with Ella if he wanted to move things forward in their relationship. He wasn’t sure if the timing was right, but after what she’d told him about her sister and ex, he wanted to be open with her about his past. “A little over a hundred years ago I was mated, but she was killed,” he said bluntly, needing to get it out there. Remembering hurt, but this was something he had to tell Ella.