Binds that Burn: A Werepanther Romance Suspense (Urban Dwellers Book 3) Page 5
“Should I be jealous?” Eric quipped as he dug into the thick steak in front of him. Naturally, it was bloody and just barely warm. Eric’s panther enjoyed a good, rare steak on a regular basis. It was something that had bothered Nina at first, until she had gotten used to the reality that she was dating a shifter.
“Let’s not go there, Eric,” she said. “I still can’t believe you bought out the entirety of Violet Lune on a Friday night. Why doesn’t it surprise me that you are still as extravagant as ever?”
“I’m supposed to be keeping a low profile, remember? Plus, I prefer to conduct business matters of this variety without any other prying eyes,” he said. “Don’t want it to end up in the newspapers.”
Nina slammed her fork down on the table. She had gone from cautiously warm toward him to furious in less than ten seconds. Typical. “Yeah, I know. Heaven forbid anyone would catch sight of the rich billionaire slumming with the hired help. Whatever would the society papers think?” She shot up out of her seat. For a few minutes, she had forgotten why things ended for good between them. She wasn’t the type of girl Eric would ever settle down with. She wasn’t good enough, and she never had been.
“Nina, that’s not what I meant.” Eric was slowed down by having to maneuver out of the booth, so Nina had a head start that she planned to use to her advantage.
She grabbed her jacket and purse and practically sprinted toward the back of the room. The veranda table was often rented out by celebrities and politicians that wanted to enjoy a private meal in peace. That meant that it offered a back door that didn’t require an exit through the main part of the restaurant. She just needed to make it down the short flight of stairs and into the alleyway before Eric caught her, if he even bothered to pursue her at all. Three years ago, he hadn’t.
That was what surprised her then when she heard the heavy footsteps on the landing above her even as she burst through the door into the alley. She was disoriented for a moment, trying to assess whether to go right or left. If she didn’t move, Eric would catch up with her all the more quickly. He was half panther, after all.
Nina swung to her left and realized too late that it was taking her further into a catacomb of alleys cutting between the various buildings of the warehouse district where Violet Lune was located. That was when her luck got even worse; the heel of her shoe busted, causing her to pitch forward. Her jacket and purse went to the ground with her, and she lost hold of them.
She barely had time to get back to her feet when he was there. In her space. Crushing her against his chest. His mouth was next to her ear.
“Why do you keep running away from me?” he said. His voice was a low growl that sent a tremor of desire straight to her core.
“I have to.” It was the only response she had, and it was the honest truth. Eric embodied everything that spelled the end of her. She had to protect herself at all costs.
“Have to or want to?” His words caressed her ear. He nuzzled against the side of her jaw, and she felt a flare of something else inside of her that she had considered long dead. She hated Eric Carmichael with a passion, but the fire he could set ablaze in her betrayer of a body couldn’t be replicated by anyone else. She burned like that for him and him alone. And damn the man, he knew it.
“I hate you,” she said weakly as he began to drop soft, urgent kisses down the side of her neck.
He chuckled even as her arms wrapped around his neck to draw him closer. “I know you do. That’s what your mind says, but your body is telling me a different story.”
She felt him draw a deep breath at the crook of her collarbone. That was the worst thing about dating a fucking werepanther. He could read the scents of her body like a book. And right now, her body buzzed in anticipation of having something it had long been denied.
He brought his head up to stare deeply into her eyes. She couldn’t hide from him. She had tried, hadn’t she? His hands on her hips, he pushed her backward until her ass met the brick wall behind her. He pressed his long, hard body against hers, and she couldn’t stop the whimper that erupted from the back of her throat.
She saw his smirk just before his mouth descended on hers, and then Nina was lost. She was lost in a way that made her wonder if she ever wanted to be found again. Her fingertips dug into the hair at the base of his neck, and he growled in response. Nina smiled against his lips, but then fell victim to their onslaught.
They demanded entry, and she opened her lips with a small sigh. Eric’s kisses always had washed away all common sense and logic. His tongue explored every corner of her mouth as if he was a man dying of thirst, and she felt her nipples harden at the thought of what they were doing and where they were doing it.
Once upon a time, it had been their thing. Nina had been woefully inexperienced and naïve about sex. Eric had been so cocky and confident, and he had delighted in embarrassing her by talking her into indulging in all sorts of escapades in a variety of public places. That was why it didn’t surprise her now that he was pushing her to do this with him here, in the alley, now.
What did surprise her was how willing she was to let him. Even as she felt his hands roam the curves of her body and then cup her breasts with a pleased growl, she told herself it was just this once. She’d scratch that itch once and for all, and then it would be done. She’d wrap his case, and she’d never see him again. What was one last roll in the sack for old times’ sake?
Eric had already made short work of the buttons of her shirt and pushed the sides apart to expose her bare breasts. “I love that you still don’t wear a bra. Saves so much time,” he said just before he knelt in front of her to suck her left nipple into his mouth.
She moaned and let her head fall back against the wall. Her stance widened as Eric’s hand began a slow stroke up the inside of her thigh. Nina knew what he would find when he finally reached the apex between her legs. She had been wet before she even entered the restaurant. The sheer anticipation of being close to him again had done her in, and there was no way he couldn’t have sensed that when she walked in. She would have presented a challenge that he couldn’t resist.
She felt the brush of his fingertips over her sensitive ridge through the fabric of her panties, and she almost came right then. Eric sucked hard on her other nipple before giving it a small nip that sent more ripples of pain mixed with pleasure down her spine. Wasn’t that an accurate description of their entire relationship? Pleasure and pain mixed together as one.
He stood up and brought the hem of her skirt with him to wedge it around her waist. He pressed hard against her and dropped his mouth back onto hers. She heard the rip of fabric and realized that Eric had grown impatient trying to gain access to her wet channel. There was a roar building in the back of her mind, and as his fingers finally slipped inside of her, she felt the crescendo coming.
“Fuck, babe. I want to be inside you. Now,” Eric said against her lips. “You still on the pill?”
She couldn’t speak but gave a short nod. She didn’t want him to stop. He couldn’t stop; not when she was so close. She barely felt him move as he unzipped his pants, and she helped him push them down his muscular thighs. There were so many other things she wanted to do, but she was aware enough that she knew their time was short.
He leaned down to grip the backs of her bare thighs as he lifted her easily to prop her against the wall, and her legs wrapped around his waist. She clenched her fists around his shoulders, and before she could think again about what they were doing, he drove inside of her. Hard.
She hissed at the sensation of him filling her completely. It was a feeling she had missed more than she would ever admit. Then he started to move against her. She clenched her muscles tightly around him bringing out another growl; whether it was him or his cat she had no idea. But she didn’t care. For these few moments, there was only her and Eric. The rest of the world faded away.
Even though the bricks on her backside scratched against her sensitive skin, she welcomed it. She pushed her
hips out to get a better angle, and then Eric took hold of her wrists and pushed them over her head, forcing her back to arch, and her eyes locked on his. There was a flash inside of them that made her wonder if she was seeing Eric or his cat. Whether it was one or the other, it didn’t matter. They both wanted her with equal abandon.
His hips stilled. Nina could feel her heart beating hard in her chest. There was something else in Eric’s eyes that she couldn’t read. “You won’t run from me again,” he said. “Say it.”
But Nina couldn’t promise that to him, even if she wanted to. Which she told herself she didn’t. She arched even further, causing his eyes to fall to her pert breasts. She bucked her hips against him, drawing him deeper into her soft folds, and Eric’s eyelids fluttered closed. She moved again, riding him and taking control. She was so close, and she knew he was too.
Just as she anticipated, Eric released her wrists to grip her hips. He drove into her hard, and she gasped. It felt wildly good, and now that he had given in to her, he wasn’t holding back. She didn’t want him to. She had known that Eric always needed to be in control, and she relinquished it back to him even as she dug her fingernails into his shoulder blades.
Nina felt the crescendo of the wave of her climax overtaking her, and her mouth opened in a sharp cry just as Eric slammed his mouth against hers to muffle the sound. He swallowed her breath as she took all of him into her and clenched him tightly inside. A blinding ripple of pleasure tore through her. Eric groaned against her lips. She’d know the sound of his release anywhere. It was burned in her memory.
That was when it hit her. What she had done. How she had practically jumped back into the snake pit of her past with open arms. She had to fix the situation and fix it fast, before Eric could see how vulnerable she was. All of her fragile walls could come crumbling down in an instant, and then she truly would be lost. She couldn’t let that happen again.
“Let me down, Eric,” she said, squirming against him.
He released her slowly to the ground. She stepped away from him and turned so she could straighten her clothes. As she jammed her shirt back into the waistband of her skirt, she glanced furtively up and down the alley, ascertaining the quickest exit to the street. “I can’t believe I let you do that.” Eric tried to grab hold of her chin, but she pushed his hand away. “No, Eric. You can’t do that. It was a mistake. We won’t do that again.”
“Why not?” The heated tone was in his voice again. “Shit, Nina. I think if this proves anything, it’s that there is still something between us. You can’t deny that.”
“A healthy dose of lust. Yes.” She let her voice run cold. “I’m done, Eric. Hire someone else to help you. I won’t do this again with you because what just happened changes nothing. You have your world, and I have mine. Stay the hell away from me.”
She slipped her other shoe off and threw both of them into her purse. This time, when she walked away with as much dignity as she could muster, Eric didn’t follow. She was grateful, because that meant he wouldn’t see the tears as they started to fall.
CHAPTER SIX
Eric was pissed off and frustrated. He had just wanted to talk to Nina. That was really the intention of the entire evening, but he had let his emotions get away from him. It was something that he knew that he was supposed to be able to control, but ever since seeing Nina again, he was having a hard time controlling his panther.
Tony had talked often about how when a shifter found their mate, the animal inside of them refused to be ignored. Eric didn't know what had changed since the last time he had seen Nina, but he knew without a doubt that she was his mate. That was the part of it that unsettled him as well. Eric didn't have the time or inclination for something as silly as an emotional bond with someone that was supposed to have some type of control over him. Eric Carmichael did not lose control, ever.
He had watched Nina run away from him yet again, and immediately, his panther wanted to go after her. He wanted to stalk her, find her, and claim her. He had almost done it during their interlude in the alley. But teetering on the edge of biting that soft skin in the crook of her neck, he had reeled it back in. The human part of him understood that the way things had been left between him and Nina was hugely unresolved. He had hurt her badly. If he claimed her without her permission, it was possible that she would never forgive him.
There were few things that Eric regretted in his life, but pushing Nina out of his life was the biggest one. The break-up had been brutal in more ways than one. Perhaps the part that really got him was how neatly Nina had cut him out of her life, like a surgeon removing every bit of a tumor. He had thought for a time that she had loved him, but then she picked up and seemed to go on without him with barely any hesitation. But he knew that he had hurt her. He saw it in her eyes every time she looked at him during their short reunion.
Eric made his way back into the Violet Lune and found Benson waiting for him.
"Is Ms. Rodriguez going to be joining you again, sir?" Benson asked politely.
"I don't know what Ms. Rodriguez is going to be doing from this point forward," Eric said. "Just give me the fucking bill so I can get out of here."
He knew it was wrong of him to snap at Benson. The man was nothing if not cordial and accommodating to his every whim and desire. Of course, it was the Urban Dwellers that paid the man's paycheck. The Violet Lune was their most successful restaurant in the city. They didn't cop to being the owners of it. It was owned by one of their front organizations, the CAF Foundation. Still, with the money filtered through the various legal channels, it provided a profitable front and cash flow for the rest of their endeavors. That was the way it had been since the beginning. He, Tony, and Kyle had put together a network front of legitimate businesses that funded all of the other work that they wanted to do.
Now, the time had arrived where they were finally realizing the culmination of everything that they had worked so hard for, and it appeared as if it was all falling apart in front of their eyes.
Eric still hadn't dealt with or processed his memories from that night so long ago. In the last two days, the three men could barely even look at each other even as they talked almost constantly, trying to figure out who was behind all of it. They were all trying to deal with it in their own ways. It was all so fucked up.
The plot felt intricate and intentional. They also had to wrap their heads around the fact that magic was involved, and they were all coming to grips with the fact that that concept existed in real life. The irony that this was something that he and Nina had argued about often wasn’t lost on him either.
As he walked out of the Violet Lune, he saw Cal lounging beside the car. Cal straightened when he saw Eric. "I told you that if she came out, you were supposed to follow her." Apparently, his snapping was not reserved just for Benson.
Cal looked at him with a surprised expression. Then his brow furrowed. "She didn’t come out here, boss."
Eric growled at him. He pointed at the entrance to the street from the alley next to the restaurant. He was well aware of how close he and Nina had been to being discovered if anybody happened to turn into the alleyway. It had always been kind of their thing. He had been secretly pleased that it turned out that it still was their thing. Of course, it wouldn't matter if Nina never spoke to him again. His panther whined at the idea. Eric stuffed it down.
"Did you fucking fall asleep? She should have popped out of that alley about two minutes ago," Eric said. “She was barefoot, for Christ’s sake.”
Cal raised an eyebrow and shuffled his feet. He wasn't used to being talked to like that. Usually, Eric reserved that for the people he didn't like. "I've been watching both of these exits this whole time, boss. Just like you told me. She didn’t come this way. I didn’t see her."
Eric wanted to hit something in frustration. He didn't understand how Cal could have missed Nina coming out of the alley. She would have had to have walked right past him to head back to her apartment. Cal was good. He was better
than good; he was one of the best. That was why Eric had prepped him appropriately before Nina showed up. He wasn't unaccustomed to Nina running away from him; not that he had intended on the romantic interlude that had happened between them. He just thought she might try and run out the back door. It wasn't as if she hadn't done it before after an argument they had at the Violet Lune. That had also kind of been their thing.
"Take me home," he said. He climbed into the back of the car. Cal instantly complied, and Eric thought about the fact that he should probably apologize to the man, but Cal seemed unruffled by the incident.
That was something Eric would never be able to do. If anyone ever talked to Eric like that, he would have decked them. But then again, that was why Eric was who he was and how he'd gotten to where he was. He had alpha tendencies, and he wouldn’t quit until he made the other person submit. Everyone he had met except Nina. When it came to her, Eric wanted her to submit willingly on her own.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled to her number. He wanted to call her. She had completely misunderstood him in the restaurant. He was supposed to be keeping a low profile; that was the reason he bought out the restaurant. He had been stupid throwing in the offhanded comment, intending it to be a joke. But, as usual, Nina had assumed it was because he didn’t want to be seen with her, which was ridiculous. That was why he went after her, but he had let his desire get the better of him.
Then she had quit the case. Of course, she would quickly remember that she couldn't do that. He had made sure that stipulation was in the contract that she had signed. He hoped that Maggie had driven that point. It was non-negotiable.
He drummed his fingers on the door handle. Did he stick his hand in the hornets’ nest now? Or did he wait until the morning? Either way, he knew there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to stay away from Nina. She would be his.