There was an additional apartment building that was strictly for lone shifters. His brother’s mate, Havana, and her tiny unofficial pack that consisted of various breeds of shifter had resided there before joining the pride.
Luke whipped the SUV into his usual parking space and switched off the engine. Once he’d grabbed Blair’s duffel from the trunk, he took her hand and led her into the complex. After an upward elevator ride, they reached his floor.
Inside his apartment, Luke closed the door … and slammed her up against it. He took her mouth in a hot, wet kiss, growling when she fisted his shirt and dragged him closer. He thrust his tongue deeper, feeding on her taste, so hungry for her it all but slayed him.
His Blair was no passive participant. She kissed him back just as urgently, hooking her leg over his hip. She arched into him, grinding against his throbbing cock.
Inwardly cursing, he tore his mouth free, planted his hands on the door either side of her head, and inched his body away from hers. “Don’t,” he said when she would have yanked him to her. “My control is not at its best.”
“I’ve noticed. I’m trying to take advantage of it. Hush. Don’t interfere.”
“Blair …”
“Shh, it’s all good, it won’t hurt, I promise.”
He bit her lip. “We’re not doing this tonight.”
“Why not? You’re hard. I’m wet. It makes sense to do something about it. I could make myself come but, well, I’m far more acquainted with my fingers than I care to be at this point.”
His eyes briefly drifted shut. She liked to tease him with little comments like that, and they never failed to make his cock twitch. “Demure” she was not. His girl was bold as brass and went after what she wanted—something that made him proud. But … “You know I’d never manage to fuck you without also claiming you, and I’m not claiming you tonight.”
She pouted. “You always make me feel like a villain trying to divest an innocent of their virtue.”
One side of his mouth kicked up. “I’ll be doing the divesting. But not tonight.” He nuzzled her, dragging that scent into his lungs that called specifically to him, rousing every possessive instinct in his system, awakening his need to protect and shield and claim. When the scent of her filled and surrounded him, he felt like he was home; like all was right in his world. “Now come on. We need to talk.”
Sobering in an instant, Blair sighed as she let him pull her further into his apartment. It wasn’t a regular bachelor pad. How could it be, when she’d played a part in selecting the décor? He’d roped her into helping him choose the warm, earthy paint colors and the stylish pine furnishings when she was younger, feeling it was her right; knowing she’d want to leave her touch on his personal slice of territory. He’d also wanted her to view it as her home.
He sank onto the sofa and pulled her onto his lap. She easily settled there, planting her hands on his chest. She’d straddled him like this countless times as they made out for what felt like hours. Shame they wouldn’t be doing that now.
He gave her hips a squeeze. “You should have told me that Macy went to see you.”
“And pull your attention away from all that was happening around you back then? No. Your focus needed to be on ridding your pride of the danger that hovered over it.” When he went to argue, she added, “I’m not saying you don’t have a right to be angry that I kept it from you. In your position, I wouldn’t like it either. But I’d be lying if I said that I was sorry, so I’m not going to.”
His jaw hardened. “The danger to the pride passed three weeks ago. I told you that.”
“You did, but I didn’t trust that you weren’t merely trying to keep me from worrying. You’ve never once had a problem with me visiting your dad on his birthday. Every year, you take me to see him and then a bunch of us go to a restaurant. But this year, you were opposed to it.” Luke had instead brought Vinnie and a bunch of others to Sylvan territory, and they’d had a celebratory meal in her damn cabin. No one had given her a straight answer as to why.
“It wasn’t that all the problems weren’t truly resolved. We simply have a new, though much more minor, issue.”
Her inner animal snapped up her head. “Which is?”
“You’ll remember I told you about one of our new pride mates, Camden. When he shifted into his tiger form outside this complex to fight with his uncle, it didn’t go unnoticed by humans. Since then, a human male has been hanging around asking the people who work in the pride-owned shops about the ‘lone tiger shifter’ who lives nearby.”