Chapter Nine

His beast roared and demanded. Dane ignored the painful slashes and licked his lips before turning to glance at her over his shoulder. She stood by the door, hands clasped before her. No shoes still and appearing messily sexy.

“Time to eat?”

Aida smiled and his beast settled. Just that simple. “If you’re ready.”

“Just about.” He looked back at his project. “Five minutes?” He tensed as she neared and her steps stopped. Glancing back at her Dane saw her back up. “Where are you going?”

“I didn’t want to intrude.”

“Come over. It’s your shop after all.” She’s very intuitive. She didn’t budge and he arched a brow. “Aida?”

“My shop or not, you deserve privacy if you want it. I’ll be inside when you’re ready to eat.”

“No, wait,” he called out. Dane sheathed his claws, turned, and walked to her. “I don’t need privacy from you. Besides, I could use your help.”

Her dark gaze assessed him as she weighed his words. “Are you sure?”

I’m sure I want to take you. I want to bend you over this worktable and sink my cock as far as it can go within you. I want to hear you scream my name as you come around me. A slight smile touched his mouth. “I’m sure.”

She brushed by him, tantalizing his senses with the scent of her skin.

“This is beautiful,” she said staring down at the board he had made.

“Thank you. Tau has told me how much he likes chess so I made him this.”

Aida nodded. “I’ve seen the pieces but the boards more often than not are flimsy.” She flashed him a grin. “So what did you need me to do?”

Dane ground back his initial response and said, “Squeeze the corner so it doesn’t move while I finish gluing this last row.”

Without comment, Aida did as he’d said. His gaze lingered over her hands, the smooth dark ochre hued skin, short clear nails. Dragging his eyes off her body he focused on the task at hand. She never said a word, just stood there silently, her hands never wavering.

“That ought to do it,” he announced stepping back.

Aida didn’t move. “I have some vice clamps in the third drawer down of the black cabinet over there.”

Dane went to acquire them and put them in place. “Perfect.”

“He’ll really enjoy this,” Aida said finally letting go.

His gaze watched her hand reach toward him only to stop before any contact was actually made. Dane didn’t like that; he wanted her hand on him. Lifting his gaze, he saw some uncertainty in her eyes. Not fear. Just uncertainty.

“Hungry?” she asked.

More than you want to know. “Yes.” He wiped his hands off on his jeans and waited for her to walk past him. Dane stared at her hips swaying slightly in the colorful skirt she wore before following her out. The dogs raised their heads when he passed them and he could feel their gazes on him.

I’m still impressed her dogs don’t run from me. They weren’t friendly but they also hadn’t attacked him. but he had no doubt should they ever believe their mistress was in danger they wouldn’t hesitate to tear into him.

“Smells wonderful,” he said stopping off at the sink to wash up once they were inside.

“Thank you.” Aida washed next and soon they were eating a simple yet filling meal.

“When were you thinking of leaving tomorrow?” he asked using a piece of his bread to scoop up some of the meat sauce and eating it.

“No set time. I usually leave early but if you want to sleep in, I don’t mind going a bit later.”

Sleep in? Only if you are in my arms, Aida. Dane couldn’t recall the last time he’d woken up with a woman.

“I don’t want to alter your schedule. Early is fine by me.”

She smiled and he shifted on the seat as his jeans grew tight. For the rest of dinner, Dane asked questions which were kind of neutral in tone, not wanting to pry too much. He learned her expressions, the different qualities her voice had, and he was introduced to her passion for helping others.

He cleared the table while she went outside then once she came back in to do dishes; he headed back out to the shop to check on the board. He grinned when he saw the cans of protective coating she’d set on the table. Deciding on the polyurethane, Dane applied a coat. After it was on and he had cleaned out the brush, he heard her laughter. His skin prickled and he cocked his head.

“Kamau, stop it. Stop. Stand still now, come on.”

Dane immediately headed off in the direction of her voice. Coming around the front of the house, he stopped in his tracks. Aida stood there soaking wet with suds all over her and the dog beside her. Scanning, he spotted Ruger nearby, the powerful male lay there appearing almost bored with the entire thing. His gaze went back to Aida and his breathing was suddenly a struggle. Beautiful. Taking a deep breath he began towards her.

“Who’s bathing who?” he asked teasingly.

Aida looked at him and narrowed her gaze. She wiped off her forehead before bending over and scrubbing Kamau some more. “You’re so full of sass, why don’t you give Ruger a bath.”

His beast hissed with indignation at the suggestion. Dane stared beyond her wet body hugging tank top to where Ruger lay watching him. Bathe a dog? “Do you really think he’d let me?”

“You stay, Kamau,” she muttered before grabbing another bucket and walking in his direction. Thrusting the soapy brush at him, Aida set the bucket down on the ground. “Ruger. Bath time.” Ruger appeared by her side and continued to stare at him. “He’s not my problem child. Be a good boy, Ruger.” Then she headed back to where Kamau waited.

Dane looked between his hand and the dog. Ruger held the gaze, his dark eyes unflinching but wary.

“Okay, Ruger, here we go.”

Dipping his hand into the pail, Dane reached toward the dog. Ruger never moved, he stood stock-still and continued to stare back at him while he washed. When Dane walked around to the other side, the massive head followed his motion. He could feel the scars under his touch. Along with a body packed full of muscle.

“How do I rinse him?” he asked looking over at her.

“There’s a hose over here by me, he’ll come with you,” she said as Kamau shook all over her and pushed her to the ground. “Damn you, Kamau.”

Dane chuckled and looked at his stoic companion. “I really like your owner, Ruger,” he muttered. In a louder voice, he said, “Come on, boy. Let’s get rinsed off.”

Aida was right. Ruger followed him and stood for rinsing. When both dogs were clean, Aida sent them off to dry in the warm evening air.

“What are Ridgebacks bred to do?” he asked desperately trying to keep his mind off her wet, succulent body. a task not at all easy to do especially with the way the clothes she wore conformed to her curves.

“Hunt lions.”

Shit! Well that explains so much. “I see.”

“Thanks for bathing Ruger, I need some dry clothes.”

Those words pumped lust into his blood and heated it to near boiling. “I’ll be out here.”

He watched her go inside. When she’d disappeared, Dane grabbed the hose and drenched his head, needing to be cooled off.

Claim her!

No! Dane refused.

Perhaps it had been a mistake coming with her. He’d just gone cold with fury at the thought of another man with her. Need for her curled within him. His cock was constantly hard even from just thinking about her and all he could think about was taking her and experiencing a high like he’d never had before.

“Feel better?” her soft voice wrapped around him. “Had I known you wanted to get so wet, I’d let you have bathed Kamau.”

Dane turned to her and promptly lost the ability to talk. Aida stood there wrapped in very little material. The top was just a spaghetti strap lilac shirt and her shorts were damn near nonexistent. They hugged her thighs in a way that made him jealous.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Fine,” he forced out from behind clenched teeth.

She’s ours. Go to her! Dane could feel the animal clawing at him to escape. Aida’s eyes widened and she swallowed.

“I’m going to take a walk. You’re more than welcome to join me if you want.” Without waiting for him to respond, she headed off. Dane’s eyes zeroed in on the place where her shorts ended and groaned when he noticed how they barely covered the globes of her ass. Shutting off the water, he hurried after her.

He didn’t know what to do. Condemning her to be attached to him wasn’t fair. The moment he mated her, his enemies wouldn't hesitate to use her against him. So for the moment until he figured out how to handle this, he was destined to be uncomfortably aroused by her, smell the scent of her and not touch.

He wanted to touch.

He wanted to feast.