Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(19)

“You’re making a scene,” I hissed, mostly because of the pain. His claws were digging into my flesh, something I couldn’t fault him for – I’d exposed him to my heat and brought out his territorial instincts. “Let me go. You don’t even know my name.”

“No, but you know mine.” His eyes bored into mine. “I want to know why.”

I sighed a little, then forced myself into a submissive pose – shoulders relaxed, eyes downcast. “Fine. But can we go somewhere else? Please?”

“Sure,” he said easily, sounding satisfied. He thought he’d won. “Let’s head to the back.”

The entire room watched us as I followed him down a hall and up a staircase that led to a hall lined with three doorways. Upper-floor apartments, I guessed. My breath quickened as I tried to resist the heat – my body knew I was being led in the direction of sex, and it was clouding my judgment, making me forget the reason I’d decided to leave the diner.

Nimos opened the second door, and I followed him into a small apartment with dark, masculine furnishings. Nothing expensive, but well built. His scent was everywhere in this place, and it only made the ache between my legs worse.

He shut the door behind me, chest heaving, eyes glowing, and I braced myself to fend him off. But instead of pouncing on me, he leaned back against the door and crossed his arms.

“So. How do you know me, and what are you really doing in my family’s diner?”

I had to applaud him for remembering the important questions in the face of raging hormones. If he, a full-blooded shifter, could do it, then so could I.

“Because I used to come here with my foster father every Sunday,” I said quietly allowing my illusion to fade.

Nimos went slack-jawed, his eyes widening as he took in the real me. “Su…Sunaya Baine?”

“Yep.” I mirrored his pose, crossing my arms against my chest to fend off the scathing insults and criticism I knew were coming.

“By Magorah, you really did make it back!” The next thing I knew, he’d swept me up into a big hug. I squeaked as he lifted me off the ground, more because he was crushing my ribs with his powerful arms than because I was surprised. “I wanted to thank you for what you did, but you’d left before I had the chance to contact you.”

“Thank me?” I pushed against his shoulders so that I could look at his face, bewildered now. “Thank me for what?”

“For rescuing all those shifters.” He set me down, but his hands remained on my hips. “My cousin’s son Sapian was among them.”

“Oh.” There had been so many victims of the Shifter Royale that I couldn’t remember them all, but I vaguely recalled there had been at least two tiger shifters in that dark basement. “Well, you’re welcome. I was just doing my job.”

He shook his head, “You did a hell of a lot more for the shifter community that day than the Enforcers Guild has done in the last century,” he insisted. Tilting his head, he sniffed, and the hunger in his gaze deepened. “You’re in heat. Let me help you.” He brushed his lips against mine. “That’s what you came here for, isn’t it?”

I clenched my jaw against a whimper of need, resisting the urge to lean into him. “It was a mistake,” I said hoarsely.

“Why, because you thought I would reject you?” His lips moved to my jawline, trailing fire across my too-sensitive skin. “I won’t deny that a lot of the shifters here dislike you, Sunaya, but there are others who are grateful for what you’ve done. Most have fled Solantha or are still imprisoned, but they exist. And I’m one of them. Let me help you.”

Oh, how I wanted him to. His words were exactly what I needed to hear, his touch a balm on my overheated skin. It would be so easy to give in.

But I would never forgive myself.

“No,” I growled. Placing my palms against his chest, I shoved him, hard. He stumbled back, hitting the door, shock stamped across his handsome face. “I can’t, Nimos. I…there’s someone else.”

His expression darkened. “I thought you said there wasn’t.”

I smiled sadly at him. “I lied. And the way my life is going right now, I’m just going to keep lying to you. Stay away from me, Nimos. You’re better off without me.”

Whirling away from him, I grabbed the latch of the back window and tore it open. And before he could say anything more, I was gone.





8





Three hours later, I reached the top of Hawk Hill, breathing hard as I pushed the bike up the path that wound up the hill on the other side of Solantha Bay. My legs burned and my lungs ached, but I was grateful – the long ride and the exercise had taken my mind off the heat, which was a good thing because my teenage-boy illusion still wasn’t doing much to help.

I threw my bike down on the grass, then pulled out the flask Elania had given me and drank the last mouthful of bitter anti-aphrodisiac. Taking deep breaths of the fresh, lightly salted air, I gazed out at the bay, my eyes traveling over the magnificent Firegate Bridge, and the city beyond. The sun was kissing the horizon now, setting the bridge aflame and giving credence to its namesake. Just a few weeks ago, the Resistance had tried to destroy said bridge, affixing a bomb beneath it near one of the main supports. I’d managed to help evacuate the citizens and defuse the bomb, and for my trouble had been sent a warning from the Resistance via my own cousin, Rylan, to stay out of their affairs if I knew what was good for me.