In Heat: Mating Call (In Heat Shapeshifter Romance Series #2) (2 page)

She missed that.

She bounded down the stairs, not caring about how much noise the old wooden steps made and how loud her footsteps were as they echoed around the hall. At the foot of the stairs, she stopped and leaned against the banister, her attention arrested by the Christmas tree. It was beautiful. She couldn't pass it without stopping to look. In all her life, she'd never seen such a big and wonderfully decorated tree. She wished that she'd had Christmas trees like that when she had been growing up. Her family's one had always been squat and threadbare compared to this. Had Erik's family always gone to town decorating the house? The wreaths and lights that wound their way along the banisters and over the fireplaces made her feel warm and happy. They made her feel as though she'd never really known Christmas before meeting Erik. There were trees in most of the main reception rooms and Rose, the housekeeper, had been baking gingerbread men and sweet treats since they'd arrived a few days ago for the holiday.

Heaving a contented sigh, she continued her hunt for Erik. She closed her eyes, seeing if she could sense where he was yet. There was a distant feeling on the edge of her senses, a glimmer of what it had felt like to sense him last time she had been ready to mate. He'd told her things about the mating process over the past couple of years. Apparently when it was time and afterwards, she'd be able to just reach out and know where he was. She was looking forwards to that. She was always losing him in this house, so much so that she'd insisted that they only ever used a handful of the rooms. It was just too big. She'd counted the rooms once and had stopped when she'd reached over thirty. It was a beautiful house though, and the more time she spent here, the more she could see why Erik had fought to get a share of it from his brother.

Now it was all his.

She knew that the death of his brother at his own hands haunted Erik, almost as much as the fact that his brother had killed their parents. She wished she could take away all his pain, but only time would be able to heal him.

Pushing away from such dark thoughts, she focused on her surroundings and wished that they could've spent the Christmas holidays here last year too. It had been wonderful being together in his apartment in the city, but now that she'd seen this place all decorated, with crackling log fires in each room, it seemed pale in comparison. She didn't even want to get started on how miserable it made her place look at Christmas.

She hummed a tune to herself while following the direction her senses were telling her. They were probably leading her completely the wrong way, her imagination making her feel as though she could already sense the connection again, but she didn't mind. If she didn't find him at the end of it, she'd just keep searching. She had to try though. Curiosity was demanding that she gave it a go.

“There you are,” Rose said close to her elbow and she jumped. She hadn't heard anyone approaching; her focus had been wholly on finding Erik.

“Here I am,” she said with a broad grin and then noticed the tray of tea and breakfast that Rose was carrying. She held her hands out. “This looks great... do you mind if I take it in?”

Rose smiled, her old face warming with it and making Kim's smile grow wider. She'd always liked Rose. They'd instantly hit it off when she'd first come to the house and there was something about her appearance that always made Kim smile. It was the wild white hair that refused to stay restrained in the tight bun at the back of Rose's head and the kindness she could always see in her eyes.

She could only picture Rose at this age and looking this way, even when she was imagining what Erik would've been like when he was younger and sneaking down to the kitchen to get some peanut butter on toast. Rose would've been all smiles, even as she told him how naughty he was being.

A weight in her hands made her come out of her thoughts and she stared at the tray she was now holding. She watched Rose disappear down the corridor and heaved another sigh. It must have been wonderful growing up here, with such a loving housekeeper and mother. She wondered how much his parents deaths must have affected Erik and continued searching for him.

When she walked into the drawing room, she smiled.

There he was, lounging limply in one of the big armchairs in front of the grand fireplace. He was staring at the fire, its warm light flickering on his handsome face, making his eyes even more intense and honey-coloured than usual, and making his dark hair even blacker. Heat swept through her when she dropped her eyes to his body and saw that he wasn't wearing any top.

She stopped and couldn't help staring at him. His physique had always been nothing short of amazing, breathtaking. It had always taken hers away anyway. The firelight danced across his bronzed skin, highlighting the taut muscles of his torso as he moved. She could feel his eyes on her, boring into her and raising her temperature higher until it burned her. She didn't stop staring at him, couldn't stop. He knew what he was doing. He knew how much she was attracted to him and that he could easily get her attention by lounging half naked.

When he looked like that, she just wanted to slide into his lap and throw her arms around his neck. She wanted to explore every inch of him, slowly taking him all in and memorising his body all over again.

She tore her eyes away from him but only managed to move them far enough to stare at his legs instead of his chest and stomach. He was wearing black jogging bottoms, his lithe and powerful legs stretched out in front of him.

Swallowing hard and then taking a deep breath to steady her pounding heart, she gripped the tray a little tighter and continued towards him. She cursed her hips as they wiggled side to side, ignoring her when she told herself to act demure.

Erik raised a brow and narrowed his eyes on her legs, raking them upwards to her hips and then her breasts.

So she was acting up a little, trying to get his attention. It was harder for a plain Jane like herself to draw a man's attention, or at least she thought it was.

Erik purred.

The tea cups and pot rattled on the tray, sounding like a discordant melody when the knives joined in, clattering against the plates. She frowned at him, cursing the way he could so easily fluster her, and blushed deeply when he smiled. Her knees trembled and she sat quickly in the armchair opposite him, taking the tray with her and not daring to pause long enough to put it on the small side table.

She busied herself with rearranging everything when she finally put the tray down. She wasn't going to let him fluster her. It had been almost two years since they'd met but he could still make her knees go weak and bring a blush to her cheeks with a single heated look. He'd quickly discovered what effect his purring had on her and he happily abused his power, stirring her hunger for his touch at the most awkward times.

Namely very public places, like her work and coffee shops. He was shameless.

Still, she gave as good as she got. All it took was a tickle behind his ear and she could get anything she wanted.

Composing herself, she poured two cups of tea and pushed his towards the edge of the tray nearest him.

She slowly raised her eyes to meet his and when she saw the hunger in his honey eyes, she dropped them again. She toyed with the spoon and told herself to get a grip.

Her heart leapt into her throat when his hand covered hers, his thumb lightly caressing the back of it.

Bringing her eyes back up, she stared into his, forcing herself to hold his gaze so she could drink up all the love she could see in his eyes. She smiled, wrapped her hand around his, and wondered just when she'd fallen into this dream. It was too good to be true. It really was. Maybe they had died that day they'd got stuck in the lift at her work. The memory of it sent a shiver through her and it was hard to tell whether it was residual fear of lifts or desire from the way he'd touched her.

“Something wrong?” he said, his voice calling her back to him.

She sighed and shook her head and then frowned. She nodded.

“Yes...” she said and her gaze dropped to his body again, hunger rising inside of her as she watched the way his muscles bunched and relaxed as he moved to pick up his tea. Damn, he was Adonis in human form, or lycan form anyway. “How am I supposed to concentrate on eating breakfast when all I want to do is eat you up?”

She blushed at the fact she'd actually said that out loud and he grinned at her, giving her a look that said he'd noticed how much more confident she'd been getting lately. She couldn't help it. It was his fault. Having the attention of a gorgeous man like him made her feel incredibly sexy and not at all plain like she really was. The side effect of feeling sexy seemed to be confidence.

It was no wonder Erik was so confident. Growing up with such good looks and money, he was bound to be sure of himself. At least he wasn't conceited. In fact, he never seemed to notice his looks. Whenever she told him he was handsome, he managed to brush it off, as though he didn't think he was.

He was. She'd never seen a man like him. It wasn't just his beautiful face, athletic build, broad shoulders and to die for abs that made him gorgeous. It was more than that, although it helped. It was all the love he held inside of him, the affection and the need. It was who he was as a whole.

“I can arrange that,” he said and a frown marred her brows.

“Arrange what?” She looked at him.

He smiled. “All those naughty thoughts drifting about in the back of your head.”

She blushed again. “I thought you'd taken care of that this morning.”

His smile became a grin and she could see he was remembering what had happened after her bath. There was nothing quite as satisfying as making love first thing in the morning, especially when they both let go and showed each other everything they were feeling. It was frightening sometimes, but thrilling too.

She sipped her tea and then made a little growling noise when he stretched, muscles going taut as he yawned.

“It's too damn comfortable here. I could fall asleep.” He rolled his shoulders and then gave her a look she couldn't quite make out. There was a hint of something in it. Fear? It couldn't be. There was nothing for him to fear, not that she knew of. She was probably reading him wrong. His look shifted into a contented smile and she remembered how he'd looked when she'd first met him. She'd never seen someone take so much pleasure from something as simple as sunlight bathing their skin and warming them. Of course, back then she hadn't known he was a black panther shape-shifter. Now his affinity for the sunshine made perfect sense. All cats loved the sun.

“That's not good. It's barely ten.” She stifled her own yawn. “It must be the fire and not having anything to do. You're horribly used to working. I, on the other hand, am perfectly adept in slacking off when needs be.”

He frowned, as though he didn't need the reminder of how busy he'd been recently. She was glad they had this time together away from the city and their work. She had to go back to the lawyer's office after Boxing Day, but then they were coming back here for New Year's.

She jumped when he slapped his hands down on the arms of his chair and sat up.

“I need a run,” he said and stood.

She watched him, studying his back as he walked. She could spend hours just watching him walk around when he was nude. His body was a work of art.

He opened the French doors that led onto the garden and a chill breeze blew in. It seemed the weather was finally giving up its battle against winter. Up until now it had been quite mild and there'd been no frosts yet. She looked at the garden, thinking about how beautiful it would look covered in snow, and then back at Erik.

Her brow rose when he pushed his jogging bottoms down, exposing his bare backside for a brief second before he was suddenly in his panther form.

He stretched, his long thick black tail swishing side to side, and then he was running out of the door.

She got up and walked over to his clothes, picking them up as she watched him heading towards the maze. She hugged his jogging bottoms to her chest, breathing in the lingering scent of his aftershave on them, and smiled when he disappeared from view.

One day she'd be able to do that.

She'd never asked Erik how he did it. Maybe she should, just to be prepared for when she had to make her first change. She was ready for the pain. She'd seen Erik change a lot since the night he'd revealed what he was, and each time there had been a look of pain in his eyes. The clicking and cracking of his bones as his body distorted into another shape sounded as though it hurt a lot, possibly more than he was letting show.

Walking out into the hall, she retrieved her coat and Erik's and carried them with her back into the living room. She put his coat and clothes down on the chair and slipped her coat on, not bothering to button it. She grabbed his clothes, and his trainers from beside the door, and followed him out into the garden.

The air was crisp and refreshing, chasing away all the sleepiness that had been invading her body and mind. She hugged Erik's clothes to her chest as she walked slowly towards the maze, taking her time so he'd have a good run before she found him.

The wind blew against her, cutting through her clothes and making her feel chill.

Her gaze trailed over the low box hedges that formed the patterns on the gravel in front of the maze. The lavenders and annuals that had been planted in them were all neatly trimmed back and there were no insects to be seen.

She smiled to herself as she thought about the first time she'd walked down this path. It had been the first time she'd seen Erik in his panther form, not that she'd known back then that it was him. She'd had her suspicions though. The fact that he'd always begun to change in her dreams and always purred in them gave her reason enough to believe that there could be a connection between the panther and him.

To think, she'd soon be ready for the mating and then they'd be together for eternity. It seemed like decades since the night Erik had told her he couldn't go through with it. She'd tried to be okay with it, but it had been hard. She knew in her heart that in a way Erik had been right and she hadn't been ready then, but she didn't want to lose him and she had been desperate to make sure that he'd always be hers. Alistair's threat of killing him had shaken her up. In a way it still shook her up. The thought that Erik could've died that day made her heart ache and her stomach turn. She couldn't face life without him.