King's Throne (8 page)

The only thing he was sure of at the moment was that he could be the protector that made sure she
got the chance to live out the rest of her very long life. He would defend her with his last breath. He would die for her and he would live for her. But he didn’t think he could be the man at her side and in her bed for the rest of their lives. Gina was too special for the likes of him, and Mitch was too damn confused by it all to even begin to think about where he fit into the larger picture of the Clan and Gina’s life.

For all he knew, he would die in the challenge against Gisli. If so, he didn’t want to leave Gina brokenhearted. Better
they not get any closer than they had already been. Tonight was a fluke. A lovely, amazing set of circumstances never to be repeated.

Even if it killed him.

When she tried to touch him as her small climax passed, he gently put her away from him, tucking her under the covers and wrapping her in his arms. The blankets were between them while he took the time to try to cool off. It was hard to do. Hell, he was hard as a rock and his body wanted nothing more than to claim Gina in the most basic way. But no. He wouldn’t let it happen.

He held her, not
giving her the chance to ask the many questions he could see in her beautiful blue eyes. He kissed her gently each time she tried to speak, shushing her in a loving way. Eventually, she gave up and gave in to his softly spoken instruction to sleep.

Her breathing evened out long before his did and she fell into a restful slumber in his arms. Mitch held her for a long, long time, enjoying the feel of her next to him. Eventually though, sleep claimed him as well.

When Gina woke the next day, Mitch was still in bed with her, but he was sitting
with the ancient book in his hands. He was very close to the end, judging by the number of pages left, and his face was a study in concentration.

She didn’t want to wake up and let the peaceful moment pass. Who knew how many mornings she’d have like this, waking to find him near? She would cherish every moment, fearing the worst and hoping for the best. But this moment—this moment—was to be savored.

Mitch’s golden gaze caught her watching him. And then he smiled. A warm, encouraging, almost sinful smile. She wanted to remember that smile all her life.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No,” she answered, her voice rusty with sleep as she stretched a little. “It’s okay. I usually wake up long before this. I think I overslept. What time is it?”

“Just after eight-thirty,” he replied, closing the book and putting it on the small bedside table. When he turned back, he bent down and nibbled her neck. The nibbles turned hot and then molten as he pecked at her lips, eventually taking her mouth in a kiss that was temptation itself. When he finally pulled back, he gave her one of those sinful smiles again. “I’ve been wanting to do that for the past hour.”

“Mmm. You should’ve woken me up.” She smiled back at him, loving the moment of communion between them. Nothing else mattered. Just this. Just them. Together.

But reality intruded as her cell phone rang. Gina reached over to the nightstand to answer it. It was an unexpected, though not unwelcome, call from Paul Miller, the eldest of the Miller’s many children. He wanted to know when he should come up to the cabin with more supplies. She told him any time that morning would be fine and he agreed to stop by after breakfast.

Gina ended the call with a fond smile. Paul had already been a grad student when Gina started college and he’d helped look after her when she first ventured out into the big, bad world. He was an orthopedic surgeon and unofficial Royal Guard, having learned everything about being one from his parents. It wasn’t until she graduated that she fully realized why Paul and his siblings had been her constant companions in those years she’d been at university. They’d been protecting her.

More than that though, they’d been her friends. She’d grown up with the rambunctious family practically next door and had loved having them with her in school. They were classmates and buddies. It hadn’t really dawned on her that they’d also been watching over her all those years at their parents’ behest.

In fact, she doubted her father would have let her go to school at all if the Miller’s brood hadn’t all been around the same age and attending the same schools. Okay, maybe that was stating it a little too broadly, but sometimes she wondered.

She hung up and rolled back toward Mitch, but he’d already risen from the bed. He headed toward the kitchen area, the book tucked under his arm.

“You get the bathroom first and I’ll get some breakfast going. Sound good?” he asked casually.

So much for a little more early morning snuggling. Unless… If she was just a tiny bit more secure about where she stood with him, she’d walk right up to him and jump his bones.

But she just wasn’t that confident. Not after he’d called such a definite halt last night just when things were getting interesting. No, she wouldn’t risk his rejection and invite her own humiliation.

She had a few days to work on him yet. She’d find a way to break through his reserve. She had time to negate the mindset that had him turning away from her when all she really wanted was to have him make love to her. And mean it. That was the big thing that held her back.

She was pretty sure she could get him to have sex with her, but she wanted something more. Even the tigress in her soul wanted more. Raw sex would be nice, but
making love
would be even better. Even if it was only for a short time, she wanted whatever time they had together to mean something.

Gina shook off her troubling thoughts
, scrounged up some clean clothes and headed for the bathroom. She’d take a shower, get her head on straight and then come out to tame the tiger presently making coffee in her kitchen.

When Gina stepped out of the bathroom a short while later, the first thing she realized was that Mitch was no longer alone. Paul had shown up early—with his sister, Maribeth—and Mitch had apparently invited them to stay for breakfast.

A little gremlin of jealousy reared up in Gina’s mind. Maribeth was a knockout, as well as a little indiscriminate when it came to her bed partners. Maribeth was, in short, a bit of a slut—even among shifters, who were not known for their abstinence. And the moment Gina walked out of the bathroom, she was well aware Maribeth was up to her old tricks, flirting up a storm with Mitch.

Gina had to suppress a growl. The tigress had her claws out and ready to swipe at her old friend who dared flirt with the male the tigress considered her own. Wow. Gina had never reacted that strongly to Maribeth before. Usually, Gina found her friend’s outrageous flirting and loose behavior kind of amusing. But not when it came to Mitch.

Maribeth was laughing, batting her ridiculously long eyelashes at Mitch when she suddenly became aware of Gina. She turned her head and caught Gina’s gaze, immediately stiffening and coming to her feet.

Hmm. Maybe Gina hadn’t done such a good job hiding her annoyance. She tried to dial it back, but it was much harder than she expected. The tigress was flaring her claws inside Gina’s skin, making her presence known in a way she seldom did. Gina guessed her eyes were glowing blue with the tigress’
s annoyance too. Damn.

“Hi
, Gina,” Maribeth turned her head slightly in a show of obedience though she was an Alpha in her own right. Still, she had always deferred to Gina, even when they were kids.

Such deference was one of the perks of being
blanche
that had always annoyed Gina, setting her apart from the other kids. But today, she was glad of it.
How dare Maribeth make a play for Mitch?
the tigress demanded silently, outraged. Gina’s human side felt both the tiger’s anger and a very human hurt.

Somehow
, Maribeth seemed to see it all. She moved closer slowly, reaching out for Gina’s hand.

“It’s good to see you,” the other woman offered in a soft tone. “It’s been too long.”

“I didn’t know you were here,” Gina offered, still trying to rein in her spike of temper.

“I just got in this morning. Dad called us all home when you showed up with your…friend.” Maribeth’s gaze darted toward Mitch.

Now that was news. Gina hadn’t considered that Mr. Miller would call in reinforcements and start circling the wagons when Gina brought Mitch here.

“Sorry to put you to such trouble. It’s probably unnecessary.”

“Maybe not,” Mitch spoke finally, coming over to place a mug of coffee in Gina’s hands. It was a thoughtful gesture that made her tigress back down a little bit. He’d fixed her coffee just the way she liked it and she sent him a smile of thanks as he continued to fill her in on what she’d missed while in the shower. “Paul was telling me that there were some perimeter incursions last night. He and his dad were out checking the boundaries starting at about four a.m. They found a few tripped sensors and human-shaped boot prints.” Mitch frowned and Gina felt a pang of concern.

She knew her dad and the Millers had strung all sorts of motion, heat and even sound sensors all over the property. They had redundant systems and cameras everywhere. If anything bigger than a chipmunk entered their territory, they knew about it.

“It was near the entrance to our road,” Paul added. “Could’ve been just some kids out drinking on a country lane. There were a few cans and bottles in the ditch. We collected them and sent them for testing.”

Mitch nodded, apparently pleased at their uber-vigilance, though Gina thought it was overkill. Gina knew they did get kids around from time to time who were looking for an out-of-the-way place to have a kegger. There was no real reason to think last night’s perimeter breaches were anything out of the ordinary.

“What did my dad say?” Gina asked, suppressing her annoyance with Maribeth’s blatant come-on to Mitch in light of the new information. Even the tigress within her knew how to prioritize threats.

“Just to keep our eyes open for now. Our dad thought yours sounded as if he almost expected something like this.” Paul’s gaze pinned her. “What gives, Gina? What was the magic surge our mom felt yesterday?”

All eyes focused on Gina, including Mitch’s. Not sure how much to reveal, she looked at him, answering the easiest question first. “There’s a mage somewhere back in Mrs. Miller’s family tree. She’s more sensitive to magic than most shifters.”

Mitch nodded, apparently satisfied with the explanation, but the Miller siblings were still giving her questioning looks.

“The magic was…” How did she say this? How
much
should she tell them? She decided to hedge. “The magic was Mitch.”

Now the siblings turned their questioning glances on him. It wasn’t fair of her to have deflected onto him, but really, it was his life. His decision on what these people knew about him.

“I’m a Royal Guard,” he explained. “I was in service to the
pantera
Nyx, but my cover’s been irrevocably blown, so I’m no good to her anymore. Gina saved my life and brought me here. Since then, I’ve been recovering. And yesterday, I went up to the stone circle. The magic surge your mother felt came from up there.”

“It’s a powerful place,” Paul agreed, “but it usually doesn’t have that kind of effect on people on an ordinary Tuesday.” The statement was clearly an invitation to say more.

Mitch ran a hand through his hair. “You two were trained as Royal Guard by your parents, right?” At their nods, Mitch went on. “Did that include taking the oath?”

Paul stood and his expression became rock hard. “I took the oath when I was ten.”

Maribeth stood and moved to her brother’s side, facing Mitch and Gina. “I was fourteen when I took it. We may not live in the mainstream of tiger shifters, but we live true to the code and have taken the oath.”

Despite her tendencies to sleep around, Maribeth was a wicked fighter and a very smart cookie. She had degrees in molecular biology and earth science. Sometimes
, Gina thought the Miller kids had spent a lot more time in school than they otherwise would have simply to stay nearby while Gina was in college and then later, in med school. Of course, none of the Millers would ever admit it.

Mitch gave the brother and sister a hard look as if evaluating them, then
he seemed to come to a decision. “We are alike, you and I. We both live by the code and have taken the oath. We know what that means. I would die to keep Gina and her family safe. I would have died trying to protect the Nyx, but for Gina’s help.” The Millers nodded, clearly in full agreement tinged with respect. “The thing is…” Here Mitch hesitated and a bit of troubled chagrin entered his expression. “Something changed. Yesterday when I shifted fully for the first time since coming here, I wasn’t as I always have been.”

Paul’s eyes narrowed, intrigued concern on his face. Maribeth’s expression was a little harder to read, but her flirtation had ended, for which Gina was grateful. It was all business now. Professional. Gina could handle professional—and the tigress within approved.

“What happened up at the circle?” Paul asked finally.

Mitch didn’t seem to want to say it, though it was clear what he’d been leading up to. Gina took his hand in hers, looking up to meet his gaze. “Mitch’s beautiful golden fur…is now white.”