“You are Ren, aren’t you,” she said with more confidence, wonder creeping into her tone. She reached out hesitantly. Her fingers literally itched to feel if he was real. To feel the softness of his fur beneath her hands. “Can I touch you?” she whispered.
Ren answered without words, lowering his head to butt against her raised palm. He was so soft! And warm. Living, breathing… Real. Sweet Mother in Heaven.
“If I wasn’t living this right now, I wouldn’t believe it,” she breathed, using both hands to stroke the fur around Ren’s ears. “I don’t understand any of this, but you are real, and I’m not hallucinating. At least, I don’t think I am. I don’t feel like I’ve been drugged or anything.” The jaguar made that chuffing sound and she found herself smiling back at him. “You’re stunning, you know. Soft, powerful…and your spots almost make me dizzy.”
The cat’s tongue licked out and scratched her arm with its roughness, as if to remind her that he wasn’t all soft fur and interesting spots. He was a cat, with the requisite rough tongue and sharp, killer teeth. She lowered her hands and met his gaze.
“This is some whopper of a secret you’ve been keeping, Ren. What I don’t understand is why you’re showing me this. Why did you bring me here, to the island, and reveal this to me? We’ve only just met. I’m nobody special. I’m almost afraid to learn the reasons behind your actions. I didn’t think you were planning to hurt me, but if you can hide this, what else are you hiding?” Nerves and a resigned sort of bravado made her spine stiffen as she sat.
The jaguar stepped back and then leapt onto the couch, in the space next to her. A mist surrounded his furry form, and a moment later, it was Ren—in the flesh—seated at her side. He was naked, and his eyes still sparked with that green, magical light that had made him so famous throughout the world.
“I have nothing left to hide,” he told her. “Not from you, kitten.” He reached out, placing one arm around the back of the couch, just behind her. “I asked you to come to the island so you could learn about my people.”
“Why?” she whispered, almost fearing the answer.
“Because you’re special to me,” he replied at once, flooring her with the certainty in his tone. “My kind mate for life, and we often know the one person meant for us within moments—sometimes days—of meeting them. I confess, it took me a few days because I was in denial. I’ve been searching for my One, you see, for most of my adult life. I’d pretty much given up hope of finding her.” He turned to face her on the couch. “Of finding you.”
Her breath caught as she met the flashing green of his eyes. “You can’t be serious.” Her words came out in a shocked whisper.
“I’m completely serious,” he countered. “I would never have introduced you to my family or shown you the secrets of my Clan if I wasn’t. I’ve never revealed what I am to anyone before. You’re the first, and the only. You’re my One. The only mate I will ever have… If you agree.”
“And if I don’t agree? Can’t you just pick someone else?” she asked.
Ren shook his head. “No, it doesn’t work like that. The Goddess we serve ordained only one person in all the world for each shifter. We spend most of our lives looking for our other half. Many shifters never find that perfect mate and live their lives alone and searching. Never finding true happiness.” The sadness in his tone touched her heart. “If you reject me, I will never find another. I will go to my grave loving you and you alone.”
He was serious. She was floored by the certainty in his tone. She knew he was a great actor, but she didn’t think anything he’d just said to her was a line of any kind. What he was saying was real, though how she was so sure about that, she didn’t know. It was that last bit that really caught her attention, though.
“You love me?” The words came out almost as a squeak, and she winced.
Ren smiled at her. It was a full smile. The famous smile that had made a million women fall instantly in love with him on the big screen, plus something more. Something meant only for her that made the smile more intimate and compelling.
“I fought the attraction because I didn’t believe it could be so easy to find my mate after so many years of fruitless searching, but yes, my heart is yours, Kat. If you want it. One thing you should know about shifters is that once we commit our hearts, we never stray. Ever. I will never love another woman, now that I’ve finally found you.” Again, the seriousness of his tone rang true throughout her entire being. “I know this is a lot to take in, and it’s why I wanted you here, on the island, where you could take the time to think things through in peace.”
“And couldn’t run away,” she added, seeing a bit of the humor in his plan.
Ren chuckled. “That too,” he agreed. “Plus, everyone on the island knows what we are. You can ask them any questions you want, and they’ll help you understand.”
Katrina had to admit, it was hard to concentrate on his words when he was sitting there naked…and aroused. She hadn’t meant to glance downward, but once she had, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from doing so, again and again. He was impressive in so many ways, she shouldn’t have been surprised to see that he was as well built in that department as he was in every other.
Ren seemed to realize what was happening as her cheeks heated with a blush. He inched closer, moving his arm from the back of the couch to surround her shoulders. A moment later, he was right up next to her, his head angling in for the kiss she wanted more than her next breath.
Kissing Ren had become an addiction. At first, it might have only been for the movie, but after a few takes, kissing him had felt like coming home to a place she’d never been before. Welcoming. Strange and exciting, but wonderful in every way.
She melted into him, kissing him back, tentatively at first. Did she really want to get entangled in this man’s life any further than she already was? The answer that came back almost immediately was a resounding yes. He was offering her entrée into a strange and magnificent world that she hadn’t even known existed.
Ren was so much more than just a movie star. That was impressive enough, but the whole shifter thing, as he called it, was something new and dangerous and exciting. It also answered so many questions she’d had without even realizing it.
But questions were for later. When she could think without her brain shorting out from the pleasure of his kiss. Ren tucked her more securely into his arms, and she realized again that he was completely nude. His hot skin under her fingers was something she ached to explore, and finally, there was no audience to their kisses. She was free to respond freely, without worrying about how it would look on film. Without worrying about giving too much away of her personal feelings.
For, if she was being honest with herself, she had been falling under Ren’s spell since almost the first moment she’d met him. She’d been half in love with him for days, though it had seemed impossible at the time. Now, though, he was giving her heart explicit permission to run wild, and even though her head cautioned her to take things slow, her wayward heart wasn’t listening.
No, it was jumping in where angels feared to tread, flinging itself at a man that the whole world wanted. Only, he was telling her that he wanted her. Just her. For the rest of her life.