“You’re cold.” His gaze met hers.

Slowly, she shook her head. Cold? Not hardly. No, she was very, very hot.

Green bled to gold again as his beast nudged a little closer to the surface. When the door began to open, Garren snarled and slammed it shut. Whoever was on the other side was determined though and tried to push it open again. Garren let loose with a roar that shook the walls.

Not a tiger. Definitely not a tiger. No, the man melting her bones, drenching her panties and sending her system into a tailspin was the king of the jungle. She heard a whimper on the other side of the door and realized it must have been Sean trying to enter. He might be the alpha’s son, but even he had enough sense to be scared of the big kitty.

Garren turned to face her, his golden gaze pulsing with energy. Wrapping his hands around her waist, he tugged her closer and buried his face in her neck. He began rubbing his cheek along her skin, his whiskers rasping against her. Down her neck, across the top of her breast and down her arm. She burrowed her fingers in his thick hair, letting her fingers sift through the silken strands. Closely cropped on the sides and back, there was still enough on top for her to get a decent grip. He nipped her hip as a purr rumbled out of him.

“Garren, what are you doing?” Was that her voice? All soft and breathy?

“Making sure everyone knows you’re under my protection.” His voice was more of a growl than that of a human.

“And do you, uh, do this often?”

His tongue had partially shifted with him and the sandpaper texture rasped along her stomach before he moved to her other side, rubbing and nipping his way to her neck. Pressing his fangs against her throat, he scraped them against the delicate flesh there. He was flirting with danger. It wouldn’t take much. Just one bite would tie them together for eternity. Surely he didn’t want that!

“Garren?”

“Do you know how good you smell? How wonderful you taste?” He purred.

“You don’t want this, Garren. You know you don’t. You have to fight your cat.”

He nuzzled her neck some more. “Don’t wanna.”

She shoved against him, not that his big, bad self budged an inch. “You don’t want to mate me, Garren. Think about what you’re doing. Get control of your beast!”

She felt his teeth against her throat again and tried to shove him away once more. “Garren, listen to me! You don’t want to mate me.”

He growled. “You don’t want me? You would prefer Dagan?”

His insecurity was a little cute. “No, I don’t want Dagan. And it isn’t that I don’t want you, it’s just… you don’t know me. We only met today, and I was unconscious for most of the time. Besides, you deserve better.”

Garren grunted and began licking the skin where her neck met her shoulder. “Better than my mate?”

She curled her hands against him. “What makes you think I’m your mate? What makes me different from the countless women you’ve no doubt fucked?”

“No one smells like you. Even before your shower I knew who you were, but now that you’re all nice and clean…” He purred. “I would very much like to get you dirty.”