Tariq’s people took one look at him as he stalked through the corridors and scattered in the wind. Not even Conall, who was always up for a round, could be persuaded to accommodate him.
“What, do I look like I have a death wish?” Conall asked.
“I just want to spar,” Tariq assured him.
“No, you want to rip someone’s head off. I’m not offering mine on a platter. If you want to sport, go find your blood mate. Maybe she can work off some of that aggression,” Conall advised.
Tariq spun on one heel and stormed out of the training room. Trainees dodged right and left. Some literally jumped out of his way. He snarled as he made his way to the gym.
Two hours later he’d completed a punishing run on the treadmill, annihilated a practice dummy, and obliterated a punching bag. Tariq looked around for something else to pound. Noting the freaked out looks his clutch was giving him, he sighed in defeat and decided it was time he took his foul mood back to his quarters. He still couldn’t sense his Heart’s Blood anywhere.
Not in the mood to deal with anyone, Tariq teleported into his living room. He’d stripped off his t-shirt and was using it to wipe the sweat off his face and chest when he noticed her. A large, tawny cougar lay on his new leather couch, grooming herself.
“Where the hell have you been? Have you any idea how worried I was?” Tariq bellowed.
The cat gazed at him through slitted eyes, and then yawned broadly, exposing wicked fangs. From that Tariq concluded his Heart’s Blood wasn’t impressed.
“Don’t scratch up the couch. It’s new. Enrique will be pissed if he has to replace it again,” he said, referring to cats’ tendencies to mark their territory.
Reyna gave him a look of disdain, hopped off the couch, and padded silently into the bedroom. Her tail held high, it flicked lazily back and forth and her ears were turned back. He guessed his comment annoyed her.
“Now where are you going? I swear if you disappear on me again, I’ll do like the humans do their animals and microchip you,” he warned, only half-jesting. “Might be the only way I can keep track of you,” he muttered, but his anger was leaving. Reyna was home and she was safe. It was all that mattered.
Tariq trailed her into the bathroom, where she stopped by the pool-sized tub and yowled.
“I suppose you want a bath?” he asked, beginning to be amused.
She sat and watched him expectantly.
Tariq filled the tub with water the way Reyna liked it. As the water ran he told her, “I suggest you change. I intend on sharing this with you, and I’m not interested in getting cat hair on me.”
Reyna gave no indication she heard him. She sprang up to perch on the ledge of the tub. As soon as he cut off the spigot, Reyna slid into the water on her belly, paws extended, and surfaced, warm, wet female, slinging wet hair out of her face. Tariq hurriedly undressed and climbed in with her.
She glided over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry I worried you. I couldn’t control the shift. My cat wanted out and I had no choice but to give into its demands. There was no time to warn you.”
He nuzzled her neck and pulled her flush against his body, content now that she was back where she belonged—in his arms. “Jorlan said Felinis needed to shift often.”
“Not having a feline of my own, I hadn’t given it much thought but growing up, pride members spent as much time in their feline form as they did their humanoid. Maybe more.” She buried her nose in his throat and purred. “You smell hot, and male, and sexy.”
“When I couldn’t find you I went to the gym and worked out,” he said, relaxing into one of the tub’s Jacuzzi-styled seats with Reyna on his lap.
She turned to straddle him and ran her tongue along the underside of his chin. “Mmm, tasty.”
That quick he was hard for her. Tariq made a valiant effort and ignored his ever present desire for her. It was difficult with her silken sheath pressed so close to his rigid shaft. At this moment, talking was more important.
Tariq needed to lay down some ground rules for their relationship. Reyna wasn’t one of his subordinates so he couldn’t simply give her a command and expect her to obey. Tact and diplomacy were needed, two things in which his experience was limited.
He reached out to the dispenser, squirted a handful of herbal shampoo, and began to work it into Reyna’s hair. As he massaged her scalp he asked, “Where did you go?”
Her eyelids slid to half-mast and she moaned her pleasure before answering. “There’s a state park just outside the city limits where the pride likes to run and hunt. I went there. It closes at night so there’s no one around.”
“Did you hunt?” he asked, using his blunt nails to scratch her scalp.
“No, mostly ran and climbed trees. Oh, do that again,” she ordered.
Tariq repeated the motion in the same spot and she sagged, eyes closed, her head resting totally in his hands. The nipples on her pert breasts tightened into sweet little buds, tempting him to lean forward and taste them. Reminding himself he was on a mission, Tariq resisted.
“Did I ever tell you that when you’re in your Felini form, I can’t feel the bond?” he asked, keeping all hint of emotion out of his voice.
He must not have been too successful because she cracked one eye open to peer at him. “No, I don’t believe you did.”
Keeping his gaze focused on her hair, he said neutrally, “It disappears, like it was never there. It’s…” Frustrating, distressing, panic inducing—Tariq searched for a word that didn’t make him sound like a punk. “…disturbing. If possible, I’d like to request you warn me before you change into your feline form. I’d be less perturbed if you did.”
Enrique and the rest of his council would laugh their collected asses off at that massive understatement, Tariq mused.
Both silver eyes were open and locked on his face now. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to distress you.”
“Disturb, not distress,” he corrected. Distress was a sissy word.
“I apologize for disturbing you,” she amended. She studied him. Tariq felt like an anomaly she was trying to decipher. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he echoed cautiously.
“Yes. If I can, I’ll warn you when I’m about to shift. It might not always be possible but I’ll try,” Reyna said.
It was almost too easy. Since she was in an accommodating mood, Tariq decided to push. “When you go running, I’d like to come with you.”
“Do you think you can keep up?” she asked.
Tariq stopped fooling with her hair and glanced at her to see if she was messing with him. She appeared sincere. He checked the bond but found she was shielding so tightly, he couldn’t get a read on her.
Reyna head-butted his hands, indicating for him to continue. The catlike movement reminded him there was still a lot they didn’t know about each other. Maybe she wasn’t deliberately trying to insult him or question his prowess.
“Don’t worry. I won’t slow you down or get in the way,” he assured her. He finished with her hair and ordered, “Rinse.”
She twisted to the side and bent over, ducking her head under water and swishing it around. Long tendrils of hair ghosted by to tickle his thigh. When she surfaced, Tariq had a hand towel waiting for her to dry her face. Reyna took it and wiped off the excess moisture. As she was wringing out her hair, she yawned so loudly her jaw cracked. “Sorry,” she murmured apologetically.
“It’s been a long night.” He handed her a soapy washrag. “Here, you sit over there and finish washing. If I do it, it will be another hour before we get out of this tub.”
They both finished bathing and exited the tub. While Tariq drained the water and tossed the wet linens in a corner for housekeeping to gather in the morning, Reyna blow dried her hair. Then she padded naked into the bedroom and climbed under the covers.
Tariq made sure their quarters were secure and joined her in bed. As he tossed an arm around her waist to pull her in close, she said, “I’m going back to work tomorrow. I’m sure my work is piling up.”
He frowned in the dark. “Are you sure you’re up to it? Maybe you could work remotely from here.”
“I’m fine,” she said around another yawn. “I need to talk to Jorlan and arrange Alvaro’s tour.”
“Don’t forget about me,” he reminded her.
“Yes, you and Alvaro,” she agreed sleepily. Reyna snuggled closer. The hand she had resting on his chest lightly kneaded the muscle. “And we need to arrange for the rest of my things to be moved here before the week is out.”
“There’s plenty of time for that,” he said, still not certain she was ready to make that level of commitment to him.
“This weekend for sure,” she mumbled, her words dragging.
He stroked her hair and adjusted their positions so her head rested on his shoulder. “We’ll see.”
Reyna made a small sound that reminded him of a kitten and dropped into slumber. Tariq lay awake staring into nothing, wondering how long it would take to rid himself of his fear of letting her out of his sight.