The mounting pain summoned my beast. A deep roar thundered from my lips as my muscles contorted and my bones snapped.
Her struggles became more frantic.
My beast relished in her terror, wanting to assert its dominance. As I continued shifting, the top of my aching head collided with the small chandelier hanging above us. The tinkling of the chandelier crystals brought me to my senses.
No!
Taking deep ragged breaths, I stopped the transformation.
My beast thrashed just below the surface. It urged me to wrap my jaws around the smooth column of her throat and press my fangs against her fluttering pulse until she submitted to me.
Unaware her struggles were putting her in mortal danger, my dancer lifted one of her stilettos and tried to kick me with the pointed end.
I easily evaded the sharp heel. “The more you fight, the more I crave you.” Trying to ignore the mounting pain in my head, I rubbed my hard cock against her back.
She went still. Her wildly beating heart sounded in my ear.
Not wanting to injure her, I adjusted my hold and her bare nipples grazed the top of my arm. A shudder rocked through me. I’d been waiting weeks to touch her like this.
Take her, my beast urged.
My breath sawed in and out. No! I would not hurt her.
Summoning the frayed edges of my self-control, I flung her away and forced myself to regain a more human shape.
She stumbled into the small raised platform in the middle of the room. Using her arms to push herself up, she opened her mouth to scream.
Fuck. I hated resorting to mind control, but she and the chip in my head left me no choice. “Look at my eyes.”
“Th-they’re glowing,” she cried. “What are you?”
Infusing power into my words, I said, “You’re under my control.”
Her expression went blank. “I’m under your control,” she recited back.
“Relax. I mean you no harm. We’re good friends and you’re happy to see me.”
“We’re good friends,” she repeated in a dazed voice.
“Friends with benefits,” the asshole in me couldn’t resist adding.
Her eyes glazed over, the tension left her body, and her arms fell to her side.
All at once, the pain in my head disappeared. She’d believe whatever I wanted her to believe. She’d do whatever I wanted her to do. I motioned at the armless black couch behind the platform. “Please, sit.”
She obediently walked over to the couch and sat on the shiny cushions that smelled of things I didn’t want to think about. Then, she looked at me expectantly.
I hated myself in that moment. Lee was made of steel. She didn’t let anyone tell her what to do, including her shyster landlord or her too handsy boss at Hooters. And I’d taken that from her.
Guilt punched me in the gut. I was no better than Javier preying on her.
But what delicious prey she is.
I couldn’t help but stare at her sparkling nipples.
All I had to do was utter the words, and she’d offer them to me. After I’d licked and sucked them, I’d bury my face in her pussy.
My beast purred in anticipation of tasting her. I’d make her orgasm over and over until she begged me to claim her.
Seeming to pick up on my lust, Lee licked her lips.
I groaned. Every cell in my body clamored for me to take her. I reached for her arm. Almost too late, I saw that my claws were fully extended. I quickly jammed my hand into my pocket, only to shred a hole straight through the fabric.
Better the jacket than her skin. Fuck. I can’t touch her.
The realization flayed me. She was human, or at least as vulnerable as one.
I was nearly twice her size in my natural form. If I shifted into my beast as I often did when I lost control, our proportions would be even more ridiculous. How could she handle razor-sharp claws, poisonous fangs, and a monstrous barbed cock?
She can’t. She’ll end up like the others.
A howl of desperation caught in the back of my throat. What kind of sick irony is this? I’d found my mate but couldn’t claim her.
“You’re so tall,” Lee said in a breathless voice. “Are you a baller?” Without waiting for me to respond, she answered her own question. “No. You’re way too muscular. Are you a bodybuilder?”
I shook my head.
She studied me. “Your hair is incredible. Do you get highlights?”
I shook my head, not knowing what highlights even were.
She angled her head to the side to stare at my face. “I’ve never seen metallic gold eyes like yours before either. Are they contacts?”
“No.” I retrieved my sunglasses and put them back on. Her inspection of me was making me feel self-conscious.
“Even with your sharp teeth, you’re gorgeous,” she said in a husky voice. The scent of her sweet musk grew stronger.
She finds me attractive? It shouldn’t have mattered, but for some reason it did.
She patted the cushion next to her. “Come here. I want to explore those benefits between us.”
Disbelief locked me in place. Even at the club, I’d never seen my dancer proposition any male this way. But now she wants me? It made no sense.
In a flash of clarity, I realized what was really happening. She’s still under Javier’s compulsion. In priming her to want him, he’d left her receptive to anyone. Even a beast like me.
I wouldn’t take advantage of her and I sure as shit wouldn’t allow him or anyone else to either.
Pushing a heavy amount of compulsion into my words, I said, “Ignore what Javier told you. You don’t need to be touched.”
“But I do…” she said in a breathless voice. She rubbed her hand slowly up her thigh. “Will you touch me?”
Alarm bells went off in my head. My compulsion never failed, except for the one time I tried to use it on a handler. I hadn’t known then that he and the other Titan soldiers were immune to mind control. My mistake had nearly cost me my life.
I tried again, infusing power into every word. “You’re not attracted to Javier.”
She blinked. “But I am attracted to him. He’s so handsome. And his eyes… He has beautiful eyes like yours.”
My confusion gave way to a stunning realization—I couldn’t undo Javier’s compulsion. And that meant…
Javier is more powerful than me.
Impossible! I was the deadliest and most powerful shifter alive.
As my dancer crooked her finger at me, I finally understood why I’d been ordered not to engage Javier.
The military didn’t want to risk me falling under his control.
But Jen could have at least warned me. Unless… this was some kind of test. A fucking diabolical test that pit my mating instincts against my programming.
Of course.
They wanted to know if I would follow orders or go after my mate. They’d even given me the impression that I was unmonitored. I snorted under my breath. I should have known better.
The military would never allow me that kind of freedom.
There was probably an entire team of handlers standing by to haul me away the minute I went AWOL. No doubt I’d join my fallen siblings in their unmarked grave if I failed this test.
A trickle of sweat streamed down my face. Well, I’ll show them. I’d follow their damn orders. I’d get the intel and return to base. Later, when shit hit the fan, I’d find a way to escape and save my mate. Opportunity comes from chaos, right?