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  Gently he cradled the back of her head and nudged her downward until he captured her mouth. He plundered the sweet bounty that belonged to Rose. Though timid at first, her tongue took lessons quickly and soon mastered his mouth as well. Unable to get enough of her, he wrapped his arm around her waist, tugging her close to his chest as his other hand sought the prize between her thighs.

  Rose broke their kiss the moment he slipped his finger between her moist folds and brushed the swollen bud hidden there. On stilted breath, her words gasped inside his lust-crazed brain.

  “Alessandro, there’s something I must show you.” Rose pressed both palms flat against his chest and pushed back.

  Alessandro tried to still the raggedness of his thoughts but his need for Rose overpowered his soul. He sat back on his heels. He wanted her. Though he knew it was wrong, he craved to be inside of her, buried to the hilt in her warmth. “Whatever it is my Rose, it can wait. I want you. More than I have ever wanted anyone or anything.”

  Rose cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled. “And I want you as well. Alessandro, I have never been with a man. But I know deep in my soul, it is you I want to give myself to. But there is one thing that you must know.” She paused as she bit the edge of her lip and Alessandro knew she warred with herself over this decision.

  A decent man would not lay such a decision in the lap of an innocent. A young lady’s virtue was the gift she gave to her husband on her wedding night. Not to a beast such as he. Guilt that things had gotten out of his control thrashed through his system. He should leave, but the power to stand didn’t exist within his means. She stood naked within arm’s reach. The aroma of her arousal saturated the air and lingered on his finger. If he stood, it would only embarrass him due to the extent of his cock’s hardened condition.

  Allowing himself one last look before he forced his legs into action, Alessandro scanned the entire length of her body from foot to head and hovered on her gaze.

  “Alessandro, I trust this secret is safe with you.”

  As he watched, Rose shifted into the most magnificent creature he had ever witnessed. Not in his lifetime had he ever heard of, let alone seen with his own eyes, the glorious sight of a pure white panther. Now it made sense why her father did not seek a physician’s help when she was sick.

  As a young child, she may not have been strong enough to have maintained her human form while ill. The reason for her loss of voice also became evident to him. He had heard of young shifters who fell ill to a human disease, being unable to fully recover due to the magic within them causing the strength of the illness to multipy in force instead of healing it as it usually accomplished with each shift. This had to have been what happened to Rose.

  He sat stunned when the panther brushed against him and flicked her long tail in his face. Alessandro couldn’t help but laugh. Rose was a shifter. It suddenly made sense that she communicated without words. The exotic flavor in her scent he could not recognize earlier now took command of his animal nature. The white panther was primed for a mate—her scent saturated with the raw animalistic aroma of lust and heat.

  Alessandro’s skin itched to change and claim her as the black panther’s mate. Every fiber in his being demanded the change, but he fought it. He couldn’t take her. It wouldn’t be right to condemn her to a life with him, the Black Knight of Death. It took every ounce of strength he contained to resist the urge to shift.

  Gently, he caressed her behind the ear when she nuzzled against his cheek. God, her fur felt soft and he ached to have her nestled beneath him in his shape of panther as they mated. Once shifters found their one true mate and made love in animal form, they were bonded together. If they shifted while mating, the bond was eternal. Neither would want the touch of another for as long as they lived. No. He sighed heavily against her neck. This he could not do to one as beautiful as Rose. She deserved so much more than he could give.

  “Tell me, Rose,” he whispered. “Is this how you escaped the attack?”

  “Yes,” she replied as she continued to nuzzle against him. “It was the only way I could get free. I changed and ran. It was wrong of me to allow them to see my secret.”

  “It was not your fault, Rose. You were given no choice.” Alessandro brushed his face against hers then stood. Even though in his heart he wanted to change and comfort his Rose, he decided his path lay in another direction. It was best if he walked away from the tantalizing offer her scent tortured his soul with. “The men that attacked the wagon, were they the same ones from the stable?”

  “No. They were not the same, but they were after the missive I stole. They must have been hired to help search for it.”

  Alessandro’s brow hitched. This was the first he heard of this. With each swipe of her exotic panther form against him, his concentration quickly dissipated on anything other than her intoxicating scent. Forcing his brain to work, he asked, “What missive?”

  He watched as she separated from his touch then returned to human form. She stood naked with her arms wrapped around herself. His brain failed to react in a decent manner and offer her a robe. Instead, Alessandro couldn’t help but soak in every inch of her beauty as she continued.

  “When I got away from them in the stable, I circled back and listened. The one who joined the three already at the inn carried a sealed missive containing a response to a request for help, which was to be delivered. But I did not hear to whom it was to be taken. Apparently, the recipient waits to hear from someone who has a huge amount of warriors in his liege. They wanted to employ him for their effort. When the others rode out, I waited and watched the lone man. Once he acquired a room at the inn, he settled in, left his bag in the room and went to the dining hall. I slipped in through an open window and removed the missive from his bag.”

  Alessandro couldn’t miss the sparkle in her eyes as she added, “You do not know how hard it was for me not to take back the lace from my favorite dress that he had stuffed in his bag.”

  Alessandro laughed heartily at the thought of a white panther wrapped in lace, carrying a missive in her mouth while running through the night. That would have been a sight. He sobered instantly when she stepped toward him. His mouth dried and his heart pounded. The look in her eyes rocked him to the core. She wanted him. And he wanted her. But this was wrong. He should leave.

  The softness of her palms caressed his cheeks as she cupped his face and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning into her touch and savoring the gentle sensation. He wasn’t sure if she knew what she did to him as she stood naked in front of him. Her body was a treasure he wished to plunder, but he knew he shouldn’t. As he grappled for control, her erotic aroma enveloped his brain and crushed his grasp on restraint. Unable to stop, he slid his hands up the insides of her thighs. Her gasp when he parted her folds with his fingers urged him to taste what he desired without thought to the consequences.

  Just one taste, he tried to reason. Just one taste and he would be satisfied. Alessandro inhaled the most phenomenal scent that made his mouth water more than the aroma of any fresh baked bread wafting from the kitchen ever had. Unique and alluring, it tugged at his soul as he sampled her flavor. The moment the tip of his tongue gently tasted her juices, he felt her tremble. Unable to resist, he lapped and suckled, drinking in as much of her as possible. With each swipe of his tongue, he knew he’d never forget the essence of Rose and he’d never be sated, no matter how long or how much he drank of her.

  Alessandro reluctantly left her sweet heat and trailed a path of kisses up to her navel. Her audible sigh urged him onward. But the sight of the bruises on her rib cage slapped him back into reality. Human men did this to her. They knew her secret and were probably after her, and not just the king.

  He should have known to trust his gut. Her father’s words from earlier replayed in his head. Smythe said they were discussing their good fortune in finding something they could use in their fight. Rose was the prize they sought last night when they attacked the wagon. The idiots that were
sent just didn’t realize it. They had to be a decoy, a means to slow Rose and her father from reaching their destination until the man in command caught up to them. At least, that’s how Alessandro read it.

  Guilt saturated his system. He took too much, more than he deserved from Rose. In slow motion, he stood, staring into her lust-filled gaze. He could have her. This he knew from the expression on her face and the way she leaned into him. But he deserved no such prize. Alessandro allowed himself one last moment of pleasure and brushed a tender kiss upon her lips. At least that was what he meant to happen, but she took the lead and fervently returned his touch with a passionate kiss that seared him to his toes.

  Every ounce of him shook inwardly as he gently clasped her upper arms and stroked the finger-shaped bruises left by her attackers. Those men deserved to die and he intended to make that happen. Alessandro forced his focus on the bruises and redirected his desire, turning it into pure hatred.

  He was the Black Knight. Hatred fueled his soul, not the hunger or desire for a woman. Before he changed his mind, Alessandro commanded his legs to function and carry him from the room, away from the temptation of Rose. Walking out on her would be the hardest thing he ever accomplished. He turned from her, crossed the floor and exited the door, closing it behind him without looking back. For if he did, he knew he wouldn’t succeed in saving her virginal state.

  Outside the room, he leaned against the door and prayed for the strength to resist following through on the primal lust that ravished his system. Tasting her had been too much. It set his soul on fire and increased his need for her, instead of quenching his curiosity. Alessandro shoved from the door as he shuffled through his disconcerted thoughts.

  The scent he caught on the wind last night equaled pure evil. Whatever wanted Rose was not good. This he felt clear down to his bones. What shook him even further was that the scent held an edge of familiarity. Alessandro pinched the bridge of his nose against the memory of a demon he sensed threatened his Rose. If he was right, God help them all. He silently prayed.

  Chapter Four

  It took everything he had inside of him not to turn around, enter his bedchamber and claim Rose. With each step down the stairs, his heart became heavy and his legs threatened to balk. The beast within hungered for the white panther. She was meant to be his bonded mate. No. He shook his head. His deadly path had been chosen for him in his youth.

  Memories of his childhood tormented his thoughts and momentarily stalled him on the stairs. The day a ruthless warlord invaded his childhood home changed his life forever. Alessandro remembered fighting to save his mother and sister, after his father fell at the end of the warlord’s sword. With one hefty slice, Alessandro was separated from his childhood. Forced to be a warrior and beaten into submission if ever he failed, there was nothing left of him other than a weapon of death, for he knew the Black Knight ruled him, made him kill.

  Each time the darkness took over his soul in a fight, no one near him survived. Alessandro’s chest tightened at the thoughts seizing his brain. Though he never consciously hurt a woman, the fear that the darkness inside of him would eclipse his soul kept him distanced from the weaker sex. He sensed one day it would defeat the slender control he held over it and rule him until it caused his death. The acceptance of this knowledge kept him from letting anyone other than Kade near. Yet, truth be told, he even kept Kade at a distance from that dark spot on his soul.

  Though it tore at his heart, he decided the proper path for Rose was for him to distance himself from her. The mark upon her neck provided her safety from the other shifters within his men. But once this ended and she returned home, the mark meant nothing and would eventually fade. Rose’s virtue and freedom of choice would remain intact. That was, if he didn’t complete the mating ritual. Rampant desire flooded his system increasing the ache and heaviness in his ballocks. Resisting Rose equaled the greatest challenge of his life.

  Alessandro sighed heavily as he took the last step. In the end, he planned to let her go, even if it killed him.

  * * * * *

  Returning to the great hall, Alessandro found Kade and Smythe waiting for him. From the look on Kade’s face, the interrogation had not gone well.

  “Where is my daughter?” Smythe demanded as he entered. The much smaller man positioned himself in Alessandro’s path. The haphazard bandage on his head and the lack of muscle on his aged frame made him look a bit humorous in his angered stance.

  But the accusation in his tone sent a chill down Alessandro’s spine. After all, he was the Black Knight of Death, what else could the man have thought other than the fact he had taken Rose upstairs to ravish her beautiful body? Staring the man up and down he let loose a heated snort then pushed past the unthreatening worried father.

  “You need not fear,” he practically growled the words between clenched teeth. Why should this man think any differently of him than anyone else? “Rose shall return shortly.” He turned and pinned the man to the spot where he stood with a penetrating glare. “With virtue intact.”

  Though if the beast within him had won, that fact would not be truth. Alessandro turned to Kade and blocked his thoughts from Smythe.

  “Any luck?”

  “No. He wished to wait until you returned before he would speak of the matter any further.” Kade’s brow lifted tauntingly as he added, “Is that a fine womanly scent that coats your flesh? Seems you were the only one of the two of us with luck this time.”

  Instantly Alessandro fisted the front of Kade’s shirt as the words shot on a sharp warning growl between them. “Kade, you need to tend your tongue in this matter. We shall not speak of it. Understood?”

  Kade simply nodded and Alessandro let him go. Alessandro returned his attention to Smythe, who stood with a befuddled look upon his face. Obviously he didn’t hear the mental conversation between him and Kade and the reason for his anger was lost on the man. “Where is the missive?”

  Smythe’s eyes widened.

  “Rose told me the tale of the night she…” Alessandro’s gut clenched and the knot in his chest wrenched tauter at the memory of the bruises on Rose’s body. “The night at the inn.”

  “Then you know.” Smythe eyed him curiously as if watching his face for signs of a lie. Alessandro had to give the old man credit. It was obvious in his body stature that he would do anything to protect Rose, even fight Alessandro, who was much larger than he.

  “I know the truth of Rose,” Alessandro stated as the memory of her changing into the white panther in front of him blazed to life behind his eyes. That image he would cherish forever.

  “She told you, did she?”

  “No.” Alessandro hesitated. Though he tried to prevent them, the taunting words left his lips anyway. “She showed me.”

  “You bastard!” Smythe yelled and flung himself full force at Alessandro. “You have tainted my daughter!” he screamed as he pummeled Alessandro’s chest. “You have seen her without clothes!”

  Alessandro did not lift a hand against him. Instead he stood and accepted the futile beating until Kade grabbed the slender man’s wrists, dragging him out of striking distance.

  “Poppa,” Rose stated calmly, rushing to his side. “I could not help but hear the conversation, as have others.” She motioned to the doorway where several servants gathered.

  Alessandro glanced at the servants, sending them scattering from the doorway. Yet one simply cocked a brow and sent him a look of “I know a secret” before she turned and sauntered away. Mikala. One problem he’d have to deal with later. Right now, handling an angry father in order to obtain evidence of a potential plot was his first and foremost concern. The sweet sound of Rose’s words meant to soothe her father captivated his thoughts and he turned his attention back to her.

  “You have nothing to fear. Our secret is safe.”

  “And you.” Smythe jerked from Kade’s grip to gather Rose’s hands in his. “Are you all right?”

  Heat shimmered up her neck to pool in he
r cheeks, but she spoke the words needed to calm her father. “I am as I was when I left this room.”

  But different. She bit back the words that teetered on the edge of her thoughts. Each intake of air filled her senses with his musky scent, making her heart thump and her mouth water for his kiss. Every molecule seemed tuned in to his presence and kept her emotions elevated. Was she imagining the increase in the room’s temperature or was it simply the lingering sensation of his touch that made her skin warm? Rose gathered as much of her tattered calm as possible and proceeded to soothe her father. It would not do his condition any good and slowed his healing if he remained agitated.

  As Poppa hugged her, she glanced at Alessandro. He refused to meet her gaze. Did he regret the disheveled state of primal lust he left her in and wish he took what she willingly offered? Was he ashamed of the heat they shared between them? Confusion grappled with her thoughts as she stepped out of her father’s embrace and they returned to the table.

  Each glance in his direction received no return gaze. Rose sat straight and placed her hands in her lap. She never felt such lust for any other in her life. It took a great effort not to squirm in her seat in an attempt to ease the pressure he created with his tongue in between her thighs. Just the thought of him tasting her essence increased the moisture within her feminine folds and pearled her nipples. Rose battled to remain poised though the internal shiver that rocked her core, threatening to surface, and she felt certain all would notice.

  Did he suffer the aftereffects of lust such as she?

  Rose studied the masculine angles of his face for any signs of his condition, but discerned nothing from his demeanor. In her opinion, they had done nothing wrong. She bent to the true nature of the animal within. The natural course led her to explore the nuances between male and female and discover her inner wild sensual being.