It took her a minute for her eyes to adjust to the dark, but when she did, she realized who it was. Ace.
“Shh,” he said.
Emma writhed with panic, trying to wiggle away from him. It wasn’t logical, of course, the man was stronger than her, but she had to follow her instinct for the sake of protection.
“Shhh, lady,” he said again. “Stay still.”
She was going to die. He had come to her apartment to kill her, and that was it. Her life was over without ever having loved deeply or achieving any of her dreams.
She tried to yell, but his hand only pushed harder against her face. As she panicked, she realized that Ace was on top of her, pinning her. And he was completely naked.
A thought ran through her mind like a freight train. They were both naked, with only a very thin sheet separating them. If he took his hand off of her mouth, they could have a wild fuck, something she had been thinking about from the minute she saw him.
But for the time being, he was trying to hold her still and keep her quiet. She eventually obeyed, eyes wandering his chiseled frame and forcing her breath to slow.
“Relax,” he whispered.
Emma did the best she could. It clicked in her brain why he was naked. He had been the cheetah following her. He was a shifter, and shifters were often very strong and unabashedly naked after shifting into their human form.
He finally let up the pressure on her face and wrists.
“Good,” he breathed. “That’s a good girl.”
His voice was creamy, making her wet all over again. It was an odd sensation because Emma wasn’t really into any form of dominant play when it came to sex. But with Ace, she wanted him, and she enjoyed him pinning her to the bed.
“If you do exactly what I say,” Ace said, “you will be fine. I won’t have to hurt you.”
Despite his threat, Emma sensed something soft beneath his words. She wasn’t a totally naive woman; she knew a lot of men got off ordering women around and acting as the supreme leader. But she sensed something, and sensing things was something she was good at.
A beat went between them as he loosened his grip, and she sat up on the mattress.
He pointed a finger at her, the same one he had earlier in the alleyway.
“Don’t make me regret this,” he hissed.
Chapter5
Ace
Ace didn’t know what hit him when he first laid eyes on Emma across the room. Seeing her in real life blew him away. The woman seemed too innocent and sweet to be a part of a family bursting with corruption and violence.
Following her from the apartment after Fritz and Benny left, he tracked her into the nightclub. She danced alone, clearly trying to distract herself from what had just occurred with the two idiots. Ace watched her from across the room.
Though he knew he should have been focusing on the problem at hand, he couldn’t help but be mesmerized by Emma. Her wavy brown hair sat on her shoulders and flowed to the rhythm of the music. Her eyes were closed most of the time, but when she caught his eye, his cheetah moaned deeply.
The concept of mates was cosmic and distant to him, something out of a fairy tale only meant for others. But when he stared across the dance floor at Emma moving her hips back and forth, he began to question himself entirely.
It was even worse when he stood next to her in the alley. Her decadent scent of apple blossoms and a fresh summer morning nearly brought him to his knees. It took everything within him not to bury himself in the delicious crook of her neck, inhale, and take her right there against the wall.
He ached for her, feeling confused yet curious as she ran from him. A part of him was slightly impressed, too, when he turned and found her gone after discovering a raccoon near the darker end of the alley.
But he had her scent, and he was a cheetah. There was no way she could get far enough away for him to lose her.
He shifted and followed her through the night. He made sure to stay in the shadows, not to startle her, or anyone else, for that matter. She continued looking over her shoulder like she sensed his presence. It was peculiar, especially for a human.
Ace returned to her loft and waited for the lights to go out. He then scaled the building to the second floor and snuck in through her balcony. The entire apartment was dark, so he shifted into his human form to creep around and locate the bed. It was one massive room, and he found Emma fast asleep.
For a moment, Ace just stood there at the balcony door, observing her. She appeared to be naked beneath the blankets, her bare shoulders exposed with sheets wrapped around the top of her ample bosom. She was a snack and a half, but he had a job to do.