The lobby seemed dark after the bright sunlight outside. A cheery female voice called out to them before Naya’s eyes could adjust.
“Hello! How can I help you?” The voice drew closer. “Oh, it’s you! It’s so good to see you again.”
Naya blinked to see a small, round woman wearing a flattering pink dress. “Do you know me?”
The woman paused. “Well, of course, dear. You only left a few hours ago.” Her gaze strayed to Hardiman. “What happened to your husband?”
Naya’s heart clenched. It wasn’t possible that she had gone and gotten married and then blanked out about the whole thing. Was it?
The woman crossed the room to a long table and fished out a photo album from a stack. “Look here. I just added your pictures to the book.”
As Naya and Hardiman crowded round the woman to look over her shoulder, their arms brushed. Naya felt that ache again, just like she had in the bedroom. She gritted her teeth. She had more important things to deal with right now than some random attraction for a man who hated her.
The woman flipped pages until she found what she was looking for—four glitzy photos of Naya dressed in a filmy red dress, marrying, kissing and being dipped by some man she’d never seen before.
Married. Married?
Chapter Five
The Cougar’s Unclaimed Mate
Jennifer James with Michelle Fox
She’d thought she was his mate, but instead of claiming her as his own, Kit Barrientos left her naked and alone in the woods.
Broken hearted, Rhiannon Delamatre rebuilt her life in Las Vegas as a BBW burlesque dancer. Too bad for her Kit’s in town and he’s screwing her over—again.
Thrust together in a hunt for Kit’s cousin, the connection between them still sparks with life. But Kit made it clear years ago he didn’t want her for anything more than a quickie, and Rhiannon’s sworn off bad boy shifters.
And she means it. Absolutely no sexy as hell, pierced, tattooed, no permanent address having, alpha males with a wild side.
So what if he saves her life a few times and when he growls her knees go weak?
He can keep his fangs and fur to himself.
***
Rhiannon’s father hated shifters—hated him—on sight. But Kit didn’t care about the blind prejudice of the man. He cared about Rhiannon, and would do anything to protect her.
So a little thing like having a twelve gauge shotgun waved in his face didn’t mean much.
Her family had come to town to broker a deal with a local cattle rancher and the first thing Kit noticed was the way her father herded his wife and daughter into the local pancake restaurant. Strangers might interpret the action as protective, but Kit recognized the behavior as controlling.
Rhiannon’s father’s posturing wouldn’t change anything. A shared glance and the taste of her scent on the breeze locked an unbreakable connection into place. The imperative inside him to take her as his mate increased with every passing hour.
Every time he saw her wanted to rip her clothes off and sink his teeth into the back of her neck.
He should leave her alone. Stay away. He was too young to leave the family home and couldn’t provide for her independently. Hell, he’d only known her a week and he doubted she’d want to run off with him to live as a shifter’s mate. She hadn’t grown up indoctrinated to his culture, and dragging her off from her family—even if her dad was a major asshole—wasn’t a good idea.
Rhiannon needed time to mature. So did he. His cougar acted on instinct, but Kit feared deep in his heart if he claimed her as his mate now the results would be disastrous. Cougars—wild and shifters—survived because they kept adapting to the world around them. Blending in. Changing.
He had to be patient. Disciplined.
***
Stealing the truck keys from her daddy’s pocket would most likely earn her the silent treatment and a lecture on the danger of being out “in the world without a man’s protection,” but Rhiannon didn’t care what her daddy thought.
He’d hide out on his ranch and never leave it for fear of having to interact with someone non-human. God forbid some “unholy creature” approach him. The way she saw things, all the various people and beings in the world only made it a more vibrant, wonderful place. When dinner discussions inevitably lead to psychological warfare she wasn’t equipped to fight, Rhiannon stopped contributing. Better to sit in silence than be assaulted with words.
Her daddy could drop the temperature in the room by fifteen degrees with nothing but the tightening of his jaw and a few sharp words about fallen women.