had protected her, guarded her from harm, and all the while she was scheming. He would have defended her with his own life.
“I’ll bring you to them.” Her voice held a forced enthusiasm.
She couldn’t possibly be looking forward to introducing him to her family. But she was willing to do it for the cause. What else was she willing to do? How far would she go?
“I’ll take you to them privately. Blake first then my dad.”
“Privately.” Of course.
“Yes. And I’ll explain. They’ll want your help. I know it.”
“Have you already asked them?”
She glanced away. “Not yet.” Her gaze sought his again, and she placed one delicate hand on each of his hairy shoulders. “But I will.”
Her scent surrounded him. The prickling heat of her touch tingled over his skin. She slid her hands about his thick, hairy neck. Alon knew he could break free, but somehow he couldn’t. Her touch, her gaze, her heat all enthralled him.
When he spoke his voice held strain. “And what are you prepared to give me in return?”
Her hands slipped away. Her face registered surprise. Let’s see what she did with his counteroffer.
“What do you want?”
Her question hit him in the chest like a dart. Did she know what she was doing?
“I want you,” he whispered.
Her brow knit. “What?”
He summoned the energy, feeling it flash through him as he transformed into the lover she could accept. Her gaze flicked to his erection and her cheeks flushed.
Her ears pulled back and her eyes went cautious. She retreated a step. Too little too late, he thought.
The tension in her body and the scent of her blood pulsing through her told him she recognized danger.
“You don’t have to, Samantha. You can just walk away. I’ll understand. Your family would expect it. You’d be a fool not to.”
Then he scented something else. Samantha’s arousal came to him on the breeze as sweet and spicy as any exotic bloom.
Oh, no, he thought. No. No. No. Run, you little fool.
She seemed not to hear as she stared steadily at him. When she spoke, her words were a whisper, as if she spoke only to herself. “I have to know. This may be the only way.”
He didn’t understand her words and wondered briefly what she would know by lying with him. But he didn’t care. He’d accept any excuse, any feeble rationalization on her part as long as it allowed him to touch her again.
Alon stalked forward in the form he knew she could not resist.
Chapter 14
Compelled by a force she could no longer deny, Samantha moved toward Alon until she stood so close she could feel the heat of his skin. Her aura pulled toward his, the smoky gray of his essence already blending with her violet, brown and gold.
She lowered her gaze to find his crystal-blue eyes locked on hers. His jaw muscles bulged as he set his mouth in a grim line. He looked like a man going to war. She swallowed back her fear, pressed down her uncertainty and ignored the warning of danger as she reached for him.
Samantha ran her fingers over the perfection of Alon’s chest, savoring the texture of warm, yielding flesh over taut muscle. His third form, the one he called an illusion, was no illusion. Her fingers danced over his stomach, and his skin twitched as if in pain. His eyes spoke to her, begging her to turn back. But she couldn’t. She glanced down at his sex, jutting toward her. She reached, taking hold of him, measuring the length of him with her two hands. His eyes closed, but not before she saw them change from blue to green.
She knew what it meant. Green was the blending of blue and yellow—his third form struggling to emerge.
His head dropped back and a growl of male yearning tore from his throat. His hands hung at his sides and he stood as if petrified, muscles taut, fully erect in her hands, neither welcoming her touch nor repelling it. He waged a battle against himself, suffering the call of desire and still refusing to yield. The dark clouds gave a gloom to the day, making it easier to see their auras. She glanced up, noting something new. There was a sparkling now, like dust motes dancing in sunlight.
What did it mean?
She needed his touch, yet still he denied her.
The urge to feel his flesh pressing to hers roared inside her. Suddenly the flimsy dress seemed far too confining. Nothing could stand between them now.
Samantha drew her