Romance Warfare: a Tigress' Guide to NOT Secure a Mate(14)

When Adam dropped her arms, Eva bolted. She pushed her way through a crowd coming into the reception room and took off for the elevators. She couldn’t hear Adam’s voice calling her as the doors slid shut, cutting him off from her view.

She was panting by the time she made it to her room and pushed through the door. She knew Adam was telling the truth, all those men were there for her. She was in heat. She could feel it in the way her clothes were rubbing against her skin and the way her body was flushed. She couldn’t believe she didn’t realize it before. She was embarrassed to realize that not only did Adam know, but Dean did as well. Every weretiger downstairs did. Not only that, they all showed up there just because of her. Suddenly, she couldn’t stand to be in her human skin anymore.

She shed her dress and shoes and dropped to floor. Before her knees and hands hit the floor, she shifted. Her tiger emerged with a muted roar, long, sleek, beautifully striped skin rippling over powerful muscles. She stretched, paws reaching long across the floor and began to pace the room, padding back and forth across the thick carpet. She tried to let her tigress take over, to let the power of her animal body soothe her mind but it was not working. She was still overly aware of the fact that Adam was nearby and knew she was in heat.

And all the males downstairs ripe for picking.

She shifted back and turned on the cold water of the shower, standing under the spray and letting it wash over her and assuage her heated skin. She stepped out and toweled off, feeling a little more levelheaded. The shift and the shower seemed to have helped her concentration.

Eva still wondered about Adam and his hot and cold act. She thought maybe her coming into heat had something to do with his actions. Maybe she should have a heart-to-heart conversation with him.

Yeah, she really should.

Eva decided she had to talk to him. She had to make him see he had no claim on her anymore, that he couldn’t continue his jealous outbursts. Not if they planned to continue to work together. This disruption of their professional life had to stop. No more crossing personal and professional boundaries. From either one them.

Her cell phone rang as she dried her body with a towel. It was Adam. She swiped it. “Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just…wanted to check on you.”

“Adam, we need to talk.”

“Okay.”

“Not on the phone. I’ll come over…”

With her mind made up, Eva slipped on the plush hotel robe, crossed the few feet of carpeting that separated her door from his and knocked on Adam’s door. She was holding her breath when he finally opened, afraid to say what she had come to say.

Adam had stripped off his jacket and tie, his collar was loose and his sleeves rolled up. He looked so hot Eva wanted to bite him. He stepped back and waved her in, easing the door shut behind her.

He was there, facing her, waiting on her to speak. Her mind couldn’t seem to form thoughts, her tongue couldn’t form words. All her senses were overloaded with Adam. His scent was curling up her nose, driving her insane with want. She could feel her heart thudding in her chest. Her tigress was roaring inside her. Then he said her name, his voice husky and low with need.

“Eva.”

Unconsciously, she let out a low growl as her tigress threatened to erupt from beneath her skin. If she was in heat before, right now she was burning before this virile male. She could feel the pound of her blood, the hammering dance of her heartbeat, and the way her skin warmed up feverishly. Her brain said no, but her body demanded the opposite thing. All rational thought diminished.

Her instinct took over.

With a feral hiss, she launched herself at him, catching him across the chest and tumbling them both to the bed behind him. She found herself spread over his body, her robe slipping from her shoulders, exposing the tops of her creamy breasts to his gaze. A flush travelled over her body, lighting a fire deep inside.

Adam didn’t look that surprised. “Eva, are you sure?”

She answered by pulling him to her and sucking his bottom lip into her mouth. Last time, he’d been the aggressor, this time she took charge of the kiss. She pulled on his lips, nibbling over the plump flesh before slipping the tip of her tongue into his mouth, tasting her way across his lips. His hands travelled up her back and his fingers tangled into her fiery waves, pulling at the pins that held it up. He pulled her into him, his thumbs brushing over her cheeks as he returned every nibble and lick she gave him. He tasted like brandy and smelled like a spicy fire. Her eyes drifted closed as she lost herself in his smell and his taste.

After letting her have her way, Adam flipped her over and pinned her beneath him. He brushed her hair from her face, trailing the back of his hand over her cheek.

“You’re so damned beautiful, Eva. You always have been.”

His hand glided lower, slipping her robe apart until her peaked nipples popped from between the snowy white lapels. They were high and tight and he captured one in his mouth, his tongue circling, his teeth scraping over the sensitive flesh. He sucked deeply, pulling her nipple into his mouth and she felt the pull all the way to her toes, felt her body catching fire underneath him. He moved to her other side, biting harder now, growling low in his throat. She arched into him as sparks prickled over her skin.

He kissed lower, trailing his tongue between her plump cleavage, biting at her silken flesh. When he reached the belt of her robe he tugged it open and pushed the robe off, leaving her entire body exposed for his perusal. He made a satisfied grunt as he took in her softly rounded stomach, her curvy hips, her tits, nipples hardened into peaks, her *, already leaking with her arousal. He reached down and ran one finger over the seam, collecting her wetness on his finger before slipping it between his lips and tasting her. His eyes darkened. “You’re sweet as f*ck, Eva.”