A View to a Kill: (A Bird Shifter Novella) (King of Prey Book 2) (7 page)

Sachin swept his tongue around her mouth. His hand dipped into her blouse and he cupped a breast, kneading it with one hand while he yanked her miniskirt up with the other.

“You are not wearing panties,” he said, breaking their kiss momentarily.

“I know.”

He stiffened. “Did you plan on being with your sheriff tonight, Paige?” The malice in his voice was evident.

A piece of her wanted to lie and tell him that she did intend to be with someone else just to spite him, but she couldn’t. Truth be told, deep down she’d known it was Sachin she’d be with.

He didn’t wait for her answer. He shoved his body hard against hers as he lifted her skirt above her hips. A feral smile eased over his mouth but he continued to kiss her. He ran a finger along her cleft and dipped it into her pussy.

Tipping her head back, Paige felt her body contract around his finger. She knew she was wet, drenched even. He made her this way. He added a second finger and ripped at her blouse. Buttons popped off and then he broke her bra open. An excited cry echoed in the air around them and it took Paige a second to realize she was the one who made the noise.

She shoved her hands down, going straight for the front of his pants. Sachin chuckled into her mouth, his kisses so erotic they pushed her near her peak. Liquid warmth oozed from her.

Freeing his cock, she bit at his lower lip and he growled, making her tingle. She stroked his velvety-smooth shaft. There were so many things she needed to talk about with him but nothing seemed important enough to stop the carnal passion flaring between them.

He lifted her higher and speared her on the end of his cock. She cried out, digging her fingernails into his shoulders. He thrusts were long and deep. His lower abdomen rubbed against her clit just right, sending waves of pleasure through her. Her inner thighs tightened and Paige knew she was on the verge of coming.

Clenching her teeth, she rode him hard and fast. His movements were strong and powerful, pushing her into the wall to the point she thought for sure something would break.

Her climax struck and she writhed against him, holding him tight. “S-Sachin.”

Chapter Ten

The sound of his name falling from Paige’s lips was heaven. Sachin put his palms against the building and fucked her with all he had. She took everything he offered, crying out again as another orgasm went through her. The walls of her pussy grasped his cock, pulling him nearer to finishing. Sachin bit at his inner cheek, grounding himself, needing to prolong the pleasure as much as possible.

The scent of her arousal drove him mad. He barely kept hold of his pending shift, channeling the energy instead into pumping in and out of Paige. Animalistic grunts and growls came from them and Sachin could smell blood. He knew Paige had scratched him open and he was proud of his mate’s fierceness.

Reaching down, he used his fingers to massage her clit. She screamed his name and slammed her head back into the wall repeatedly. It was then Sachin was sure he’d passed on his immortal strength and healing to her. A human would have damaged themselves. Paige was unharmed.

“Ohmygod,” she panted. “There. There.”

“Tell me what you want.” His voice was harsh but it was only due to his strain to keep from coming.

“I want you.” Her brown gaze locked on him. “Only you.”

Her slit held firm to him, seeming to pull him back into her womb, hungry for his seed. Sachin’s balls tightened and he let out a battle cry as he allowed his release to finally come to fruition.

Paige swiveled her hips on him and clenched her pussy, milking his cock thoroughly. She smiled, her cheeks flushed and her eyes lust filled. “Mmm, that was…nice.”

“Nice?” He arched a brow in question.

She giggled and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. “Perfect?”

He shook his head, wanting more from her.

“The best I’ve ever had?”

Sachin grinned. “Getting closer.”

She wiggled, and their combined juices leaked from their joined bodies. “Tell me what you want to hear.”

“That you love me,” he confessed.

Her lips met his and the kiss caused him to harden once more. When she drew back, her gaze was dark. “Sachin, I’ve loved you from the day I met you. It’s you who doesn’t love me.”

He rooted himself deep within her and cupped her neck with one hand. “Do not presume to know how I feel, Paige. I confessed my feelings for you when we first joined all those months ago.”

She appeared puzzled. “No, you didn’t.”

Tugging on her jaw with his thumb, Sachin forced her mouth open and slid his tongue around it. “Mmm, yes, I did. I called you
ta’konima
… It means my love.”

She bit his tongue, staying just this side of painful. It drove him onward, making him burn with a need to find bliss in her again. She was his ball of flames. Wild. Untamed. His Firecracker.

Spearing into her, Sachin lost control, taking her harder than he should have. Stopping himself wasn’t an option and Paige countered each movement with grace. She held onto him, kissing his mouth, neck, shoulder—whatever she could. His mind numbed to all but the feel of her cunt around his shaft. Another orgasm crashed through him just as Paige hit the brink as well. She trembled against him, kissing him softly as she cried in his arms.

Fearful he’d harmed her, Sachin withdrew. “Paige?”

“I’m fine.” She cried harder. “I just can’t believe you’re really here. That you’re back. I keep thinking I’ll close my eyes and you’ll be gone.” She stared at him. “That you’ll simply fly away.”

Fly.

The word had been dropped more than once since his return. He wondered how much Paige really knew about him. Had she regained her memories of the night her mother died? Did she remember seeing him toss the enemy into a tree without remorse and with superhuman strength? Did she view him as a monster?

Paige shook her head and caressed his lower lip with her finger. “Not a monster, Sachin. And no, my memory of that night is still broken. I remember bits and pieces, but you’ve helped me connect the dots.” She exhaled and put her forehead to his chest. “You saved my life. You protected me.”

“I was too late to save your mother. I’m sorry. I should have been faster. I should have—”

“Shhh.” She put the tips of her fingers to his mouth. “You saved me. Why?”

He opened his mouth to answer her and was interrupted when someone cleared their throat. He sniffed the air and recognized the sheriff’s scent. Sachin locked gazes with Paige. “I’m sorry. This was not how I wanted things to end between you and your—” he almost said human but refrained “—sheriff. But trust me when I say it will end.”

“What?” Paige’s eyes widened as she glanced over the top of Sachin’s shoulder. She drew in a sharp breath and pushed at him, trying to get down. “Oh God. I… Bailey. This isn’t… Bailey.”

Sachin refused to let Paige down. He kept her pinned to the wall, already knowing the sheriff had seen them in the act of coupling. There was no shame in taking one’s mate. It mattered not that the sheriff had asked Paige to marry him. She was his and he would not share.

“Sachin, let me down.”

“He will not forgive you for this,” he whispered. “Let him walk away, Paige.”

“No. I have to talk to him. I have to make this right.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “I cheated on him. Why?” She smacked Sachin across the face.

Ignoring the sting, Sachin stared down at her. “You can blame me if you wish, but the truth is we were created for one another, Paige. Your body recognizes mine and craves mine as mine does yours.”

Paige looked past him. “Sachin, he’s gone. Bailey’s gone and I didn’t get to talk to him.”

Content, he set her down. She kicked him in the shin. Much to his surprise, it hurt. He blinked. “Paige?”

She kicked him again, this time in the knee and he staggered. He barely managed to get his cock back into his pants before Paige was trying to do it again. He caught her leg and held it gently.

“No more.”

“You,” she growled, “are an overbearing, bossy, know-it-all jerk!”

He grinned. “Thank you.”

A few rather well-placed slaps later and Paige seemed to be under control. She smoothed her hair back and cast him an uneasy look. “You should have let me talk to him.”

“And you shouldn’t have agreed to be with another man,” he said without remorse.

She baulked. “What? Was I supposed to wait around forever, hoping you’d show up, when you vanished without a trace?”

He hadn’t really thought of it like that, but even so, yes. He flashed a wicked smile at her, knowing it would set her temper off again. “Yes. You were.”

“Ooo.” She stomped on his foot. “You…you…horse’s ass!”

He snickered.

When she didn’t laugh but rather looked to be on the verge of tears, he sobered. “Paige.”

A lone tear fell down her cheek. “You stripped me of my innocence and you left me alone, thinking I’d done something wrong. That I’d somehow displeased you.” She ran a hand through her thick hair and stared upwards at the night sky. “Why, Sachin?”

He took hold of her arms and tried to coax her into wrapping them around his waist. She resisted. “
Ta’konima
, you’ve never displeased me. You were too much for me. Too glorious to be with that I couldn’t hide it anymore.”

Confused, Paige looked at him, needing answers to old questions. “Couldn’t hide what?”

“What I am.”

“And what, exactly, are you?” she asked, her voice as shaky as her legs felt.

“More than a man, Paige, but I believe you know this to be true. I think,” he pressed his palm to her chest, “your heart told you so long ago.”

He was right, but that was beside the point. She needed to hear from his lips what he was. “Sachin, please.”

“Not now. Soon. I promise.”

A sinking feeling centered in the pit of her stomach. She’d given up everything she’d worked so hard to build with Bailey for Sachin to continue with his same old game. What was she thinking?

She pressed against him. “I have to go. I need space. Time to think.”

His lips formed a thin line. “Time to go to him?”

“He deserves an explanation.”

“And what will you tell him? Will you tell him that you offered yourself to me, practically begging me to take your innocence? That the minute I came back into your life, you surrendered to me, allowing me to fuck you against a wall, in public, for all to see?”

“I wish you had stayed gone!” Beyond hurt by Sachin’s words, Paige blinked back tears and shoved him as hard as she could. She suspected he moved back on his own because she was nowhere near strong enough to move him.

She walked away as fast as her heels would take her, refusing to look at him.

Chapter Eleven

Paige went to the door thinking the knocking in the middle of the night was from Sachin. When she opened it to find Bailey standing there, her heart sank. He looked tired, his eyes were red and his hair was a mess.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

Sarah was a light sleeper and Paige didn’t want to wake her. She grabbed a blanket from the edge of the chair and wrapped it around herself like a shawl. “I’ll come out.”

Bailey stepped back, letting her pass.

The cold porch stung her bare feet. “I tried to call you.”

“I know. I wasn’t ready to talk just yet.”

She eyed him closely. “But you are now?”

Nodding, he sat on the railing of the porch. “How much do you know about this guy, Paige?”

Fear slammed through her. “Why? Did something happen to him?”

“I didn’t shoot him if that’s what you’re asking. I thought about it.” Bailey let out a low whistle. “A lot. But I didn’t. I also didn’t find any records of him existing.”

“You ran a check on him?” she asked, unable to believe her ears.

Bailey shrugged nonchalantly. “Someone has to watch out for you, Paige.” He appeared nervous. “There is something I found though, some talk around town, involving your mysterious
lover
,” he said the word with venom. “He’s been seen in the area before, around the time of your mother’s death.”

She grabbed hold of the edge of the railing to keep from falling as Bailey’s unvoiced accusations struck her head-on. “Sachin had nothing to do with Hank murdering my mother.”

“But did he have something to do with Hank’s death?”

She wanted to lie eloquently but Bailey knew her too well. She kept her eyes cast downward. “No.”

“Paige, you can tell me. Was it self defense?”

She couldn’t answer him. To do so would lead to too many questions for Sachin, and Paige knew he couldn’t answer them. Not to Bailey’s satisfaction.

He grabbed her wrist. “Talk to me. I deserve an answer.”

“Are we still talking about the same question?” she asked, jerking her wrist free from his grasp. “I never meant to hurt you, Bailey.”

“But you did.”

“Paige?” Sachin stepped from the shadows.

Bailey’s hand went to his sidearm and Paige’s eyes widened. Sachin appeared amused by it all. He waved a hand in the air. “You will leave here and never remember meeting me. You will move on from Paige, find someone else to care for, and be happy she has found her soul mate.”

Paige stared between the two men and then burst into a fit of laughter. She clutched her stomach. “Oh, no way will that ever work.”

Bailey walked past her, looking dazed. He headed straight for his car and never glanced back.

She turned to face Sachin with her mouth wide open. He pressed her jaw shut and laughed. “I am a man of many talents, wife.”

“Wife?” She rubbed her temples. “You’re also a man who has a lot of explaining to do.”

“I’d like to show you something first.” Yanking his shirt over his head, he took her breath away.

“Sachin, I’ve seen all of you already. It’s what got me into trouble to start with.”

“Close your eyes.”

She obeyed and heard a flapping noise.

“Open them.”

A wave of dizziness swept through Paige as she stared at the man she loved, his wings spread wide. “You’re a…oh my,” she said before swaying.

Sachin was suddenly there, pulling her to his chest. “Are you well?”

“You’re a bird man.” Paige tried to think of something profound to offer but came up empty. “Whoa.”