Amazingly, she felt both her Felini and Vampalien selves silently wait to discover which course she’d chose. There was no pressure to select one path over the other. It was totally up to her. Both sides of her nature were new and both had made their appearance because of the vampyr male lying so still beside her.
And that, she realized, was her answer.
“You can’t keep denying what you are,” Jorlan had said. He was right.
Reyna couldn’t return home and pick up her life where it had left off because she’d changed on a fundamental level. She’d discovered and tapped into her inner feline. The one her Felini heritage graced her with that Reyna had hoped she possessed but after being unsuccessful for so long, hadn’t been sure.
While she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Jorlan had and always would love her, his love for her was that of a protective older brother, or perhaps of a human father towards its offspring. It wasn’t the kind of love the humans spoke of in their books and movies and of which she, in her secret heart of hearts, had dreamed.
The powers she’d inherited from her vampyr father, the ones her mother had always insisted she suppress and hide, had developed and grown. Reyna could no longer go back to stifling that part of her nature. She wasn’t sure she wanted to do so, were it even possible.
So she was going to fully explore the new her. Learn what it meant to be Felini and Vampalien. To do that, she needed this male vampyr who sought to claim her for his very own. The question was did she want him? Was he a necessary part of the package? Surely any vampyr would do for her purpose.
We are his, and he is ours.
She’d never had anyone who belonged just to her, although Jorlan came pretty close. More memories cascaded through her mind. Not hers but the male’s. Tariq was his name. A strong name for a powerful male. She’d known he desired her. Reyna hadn’t realized he needed her to assuage the loneliness in his soul. He was nothing like she’d assumed. Maybe she could give a relationship with him a chance. If it didn’t work, Jorlan wouldn’t allow her to be held prisoner.
“Thank you,” his deep voice murmured in her ear. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
Reyna gasped and struggled until he loosened his grip and allowed her to twist to face him, ignoring the distracting feel of his erection sliding free of her body. Then she got her first real look at him.
Mind blanked with shock, she could do nothing but stare. He was gorgeous by any species standards—human, Felini, or Vampalien. His thick, short hair was so black it contained blue highlights. Even it its current state of disarray she could tell the luxurious mane had hint of curl. Wide, sculpted eyebrows rested over blazing eyes an indeterminate shade of blue with a hint of gun metal gray. The five o’clock shadow outlining his strong square jaw should have made him look disreputable. Instead it only magnified his bad boy sexiness. In short, the vampyr was magnificent.
He smiled lazily, his expression one of pure masculine pride. “Thank you. I’m glad you approve.”
Reyna scowled. “Are you reading my mind?”
He stared into her eyes. “You are my heart, my soul. You live inside of me as I hope I live inside of you. We are connected, up here,” he pointed to his temple, “and here,” he said, pointing to his heart. “There can be no secrets between us.”
Then he grinned mischievously, charming her with a glimpse at his playful side. “That and…well,” he shrugged, “you were broadcasting.”
She mused on that for a moment. While the Felini could speak mind-to-mind while in shifted form, they couldn’t read each other’s thoughts. “I don’t think I like the idea of you being in my head.” Sometimes even she didn’t want to be inside her mind, so it was a bet she didn’t want anyone else in there. Then she narrowed her eyes at him. “Can all you—” she bit back the word people, changing it quickly to, “all of your species read my thoughts?”
Tariq gave her a knowing look.
I’m probably still broadcasting, she realized.
“Our species,” he corrected gently. “You’re half Vampalien. Telepathy is reserved for mates, family, and those with whom we share blood. I’ll teach you how to shield.”
Reyna frowned, hating the thought of her thoughts being an open book. “Will it take a long time to learn?”
“It shouldn’t. The process is basically instinctive. You just need rudimentary training on it,” he assured her.
She narrowed her eyes. “Will I be able to block you?”
“Considering your unique heritage, the answer to your question is something I’m interested in learning as well,” he acknowledged, admitting he didn’t have all the answers.
He planted two large hands on the mattress, pushed up and shifted until he sat leaning against the headboard. His movement dislodged several scraps of material which lay around them like so much shredded confetti. Tariq smiled when he noticed the direction of her gaze. “We were in a bit of a rush earlier. Didn’t fully undress.”
Casually he reached down and tugged off the remnants of his pants legs.
Gaze avidly roaming over all that masculine, highly toned flesh, Reyna purred, and then flushed to the roots of her hairline when she realized what she’d done.
“Don’t be embarrassed. Your pleasure in my body pleases me.”
She was no stranger to good-looking men. Felini males were built on the lean, muscular side naturally, but none of them ever moved her sexually the way this one did.
Tariq arched an inquisitive brow, his expression conveying disbelief. “What about the male in the cave? I felt your lust.”
“Stop reading my mind,” she protested automatically.
When he merely continued to stare, awaiting an answer, she felt the heat of a blush fill her face again and fidgeted, toying with the hem of her halter top, amazed it had survived relatively unscathed. “That was…he…” Reyna groaned. “Jorlan is not my lover. He’s my protector and has been with me since I was a child.”
Head tilted to the side and brows drawn together in puzzlement, Tariq frowned. “I don’t understand. Why would you need a protector?”