She sucked in a sharp breath. “Don’t say that.”
He frowned, easily sensing her distress. “Why are you so scared to admit your feelings?”
“Because feelings are for suckers.”
He arched a brow. “Suckers?”
“They’re anchors that weigh you down,” she said, a sudden tension humming through her slender body. “To survive you have to keep moving.”
Talon’s heart squeezed, easily able to picture Isi as a little girl, lost and terrified in an institutional setting that taught her emotions were a weakness.
“Or you can depend on those who love you to keep you safe,” he assured her, his hand running down her bare back to linger on the healing scratches that were proof of their mating.
She shivered, reacting to the tenderness of the mark. “I don’t depend on anyone but myself.”
“You can depend on me.”
She pressed her hands to his chest. “No.”
“Yes.” He held her gaze, his expression fierce. “You feel it, Isi. Don’t deny it.”
The truth flared through her eyes…the knowledge that they were fated to be together.
Not that she was going to accept her destiny.
Not without a fight.
“And what about the elders?” she demanded, doing her best to throw fences up between them. “They believe I’m destined to destroy you.”
He clenched his jaw. He didn’t have an answer.
Not yet.
But he was damned certain that she wasn’t any harbinger of doom.
The problem was how to prove it.
“How did you learn about the Pantera?” he abruptly demanded.
She shrugged. “Everyone’s heard the rumors of the savage half-men half-beasts that live in the swamps.”
“Most assume we’re a myth,” he pointed out. “But you specifically cater to my people.”
The rigid tension began to ease from her muscles, her fingers drawing absent patterns on his chest. Talon trembled beneath her soft caress, his cat purring in contentment.
Christ, he would walk through fire just for her touch.
“I was always fascinated with mixing my tattoo inks with different materials,” she murmured, seemingly unaware she’d completely domesticated him. “And the voodoo priestess who helped train me in creating my spells and potions encouraged me to use malachite. She was the one who introduced me to my first Pantera. Others followed.”
Talon latched onto the obvious connection. “Was the voodoo priestess called Lady Cerise?”
“No.” She stared at him, genuine fear flashing through her eyes. “How do you know that name?”
His hand lifted to cup her nape, gently rubbing his thumb along the side of her neck. “Your friend Derek was approached by her,” he said. “That’s how he ended up in your shop.”
Her breath tangled in her throat, her eyes wide. “Shit.”
Concern clenched his heart. Isi clearly felt threatened by the woman.
“Who is she?”
Isi shivered. “She first approached me in Baton Rouge. I was already a student of Esme, but Lady Cerise continued to come into the voodoo shop where I was working, claiming that she could teach me magic that would be far more powerful than my potions.”
“You weren’t interested?”
“There was something…evil about her.” She narrowed her gaze, determinedly remembering his stupid reaction to her birthmark. “Truly evil.”
With a deliberate motion he dipped his head down to stroke his lips over the dark mark on her collarbone, silently apologizing for having hurt her.
“So you declined her offer?” he murmured, his lips brushing her skin.
She heaved a rueful sigh, accepting that he wasn’t going to let her keep him at a distance. Instead, she threaded her fingers through his hair as his lips moved to the fascinating spot where her shoulder met her neck.
“More than that,” she said, her tone growing distracted. “I fled Baton Rouge when she took an apartment in the same building where I was living, and moved to New Orleans. She was seriously creeping me out.”
“She followed you?” Talon demanded, grabbing her hand and lowering it toward the aching length of his cock.
Without further urging she wrapped her fingers around his hard length, stroking down to his heavy sack.
A smug smile touched her lips at his tortured groan.
“Yes, but she kept her distance so I did my best to ignore her.”
“There must be something that she wants from you,” Talon said, trying to put together the pieces of the dangerous puzzle.
He now knew that the enemy had been keeping track of Isi, and that they were searching for someone who was obviously important to their cause. He’d also made certain that the Suits had eyes on Derek who would eventually lead them to the warehouse where Lon and his crew were hopefully hidden.
Later he would send someone to New Orleans to search for the mysterious Lady Cerise.
Those were all steps in the right direction.
For now, he intended to concentrate on his new mate.
Her fingers began to pump up and down his erection with a steady pace, and he made a raw sound of approval.
“Lady Cerise isn’t the only one to want something from me,” she muttered.
With a strangled groan, Talon rolled so he was perched on top of her slender body, framing her face in his hands.
“All I want is your happiness,” he swore, holding her wary gaze so she couldn’t mistake his sincerity. “And I promise, no matter what it takes, that’s what I’ll give you.”
Her lips parted, her expression a mix between wariness and a grudging hope.
“Talon.”
“You know you’re mine. You feel it here.” He lowered his head to press his lips directly over her thundering heart. “And here.” He moved to lick the tip of one tightly clenched nipple before spreading his kisses down the flat plane of her stomach. “And here.”
“Oh god,” she moaned, her legs instinctively spreading as he licked through the warm, delectable sweetness.
“And most definitely here,” he rasped, thrusting his tongue deep into her body. She gasped, her body arching as she clenched the sheet beneath her. “Admit it, Isi,” he urged, continuing to torment her as she remained stubbornly silent. “Tell me that you belong to me.”
“I…” Her words broke off in a blissful sigh, her hands reaching to grasp his hair as he expertly tongued her to a swift climax. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“I belong to you.”
He lifted his head, meeting her dazed eyes. “Forever.”
Isi understood on a basic level that she’d lost her mind.
There could be no other explanation for the joy that bubbled through her as she lay entangled on the bed with her annoying cat.
Hers.
Talon was right.
She’d felt a connection to him before they’d ever met.
The scent of his musk had not only eased her illness, but it’d stirred a longing deep inside her that she hadn’t fully appreciated until Talon had appeared.
It was as if her heart and soul had already realized that she’d found the man destined to break through her barriers to claim the lonely woman beneath.
Just the sort of corny, fairy-tale ending that used to make her gag.
As far as she was concerned, Disney was selling a load of crap to young girls.
And then Talon had crashed into her life.
The prickly, impossibly arrogant cat had done his best to piss her off from their first meeting.
So was it any wonder she was struggling to admit to her growing bond?
Not that Talon was going to allow her the time or space to come to terms with their intense, rapidly changing relationship.