King of Rock (Lions of Pride Island Book 1) Page 3

  There really was something royal about him. Something that made her just want to go along with whatever he wanted. Like he knew what he was doing and would just take care of things. But she knew better.

  “Do you know who I am?” he asked.

  She nodded bitterly. “Everyone from the island does.”

  His blue eyes glittered at the mention of the island, and he nodded toward the tent. “Can we talk in private?”

  “Are you going to keep your hands to yourself?” she asked.

  He nodded. “As I already told you, I’m not interested in forcing. I misread things, but I won’t do it again. I’ll make you make the first move next time.” He grinned. “You’re going to have to really want it.”

  “Fat chance,” she muttered, following him into the tent. Deep down, she did trust him, if for no other reason than he had a reputation to keep up and a responsibility not to act like an asshole. She believed he’d misread the situation. In his entire life, he’d probably never met a woman who didn’t want to kiss him.

  When they got into the tent, he pulled over two chairs and held one for her. It was weird to see him being subservient, considering who he was and who she was. Just a chubby office worker who called the managers of low-level celebrities.

  No one knew who she was, and she liked it that way. He, on the other hand, had everything in the world open to him. No one would turn him down. He could meet with dignitaries and presidents if he wanted to, probably.

  “So you came to the concert even though you seem to hate me,” he said. “Mind if I ask why?”

  “You already asked that,” she snapped. Then she calmed her tone because she realized if she was going to ask him a big favor, slapping him and acting angry wasn’t really going to get her far. She smoothed her hands over her jeans, wiping away the sweat on her palms. “My boss wants to know if you’ll take part in a charity auction.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Like a bachelor auction?”

  She nodded.

  “Interesting,” he said. “So you came for that? What’s the cause?”

  “Peaceful Heart Children’s Fund.”

  He sucked in a breath. “Ah. Good one. I donate.”

  “I know,” she said. “But we were really hoping an A-lister like you could bring in big numbers of attendees.”

  “Not to mention big bids,” he said.

  She nodded.

  “Can I ask why you hate me?” he asked, flashing her a handsome smile. “I don’t recall having done anything to you.”

  She narrowed her eyes. Was he serious? Was he that ignorant of how his family’s brutal wars had impacted the people on the island? “Not to me in particular, I guess.”

  He sighed. “I see. You aren’t fond of my family?”

  She shrugged.

  “We did what we had to in order to keep the peace.”

  She bit her lip. Someone had, but not him. Otherwise, she might not be alive. He’d been busy doing royal things. Still, he didn’t seem like an altogether bad person. He hadn’t said no to the charity thing, and he did donate. And sure, he might be a little self-centered and egotistical, but then again, maybe that was expected from someone as beautiful and talented as he was.

  “You still haven’t told me what you want,” she said. “You know what I want.”

  “I want you, for a mate,” he stated.

  She screwed up her brows. “I don’t get it. Isn’t the oracle supposed to pick for you royals or something? … Oh…”

  His intent stare and the slight tilt of his head, making his hair fall to the side in a sexy way, made everything click in her head.

  Of course there was only one reason sexy Beau Hunt, ruler of all he saw, would suddenly be interested in Stacy Anderson. Because the oracle that decided whether his family could stay in power had picked her. For whatever reason.

  She sighed and pushed hair behind her ear. She’d never seen this happening.

  “Kind of a shock, right?” he asked.

  She glared up at him. “Were you disappointed? I can’t think why she picked me. I’m so normal.”

  “Not at all,” he said. “I remember you from when we were younger.”

  “What?” she asked, confused. “When?”

  “I remember visiting your school,” he said, acting cagey, crossing his legs and giving her flashes of muscular, smooth thigh as his jeans shifted.

  She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry.

  Being around this man was dangerous. It made it hard to remember her principles. She wanted nothing to do with Pride Island. She just wanted to leave that all behind.

  Agreeing to anything this man said would only lead to more complications.

  “Well, the oracle got it wrong. Or rather, I’m sorry for your family, but you and I are not happening,” she said.

  His face darkened, like a storm cloud had taken up residence just over his head. He clearly wasn’t used to hearing no or having things not work out. “What can I do to change your mind?”

  “Nothing,” she said, standing and folding her arms again. Suddenly, she was glad she’d worn such modest clothes because it felt like armor against him. She wasn’t all sexed up, trying to please him. She was just a normal charity worker. “I think I’d better go. If you could think about the charity auction…”

  His solemn face suddenly lit up.

  Uh-oh.

  “I have an idea,” he said. “If you’re willing to listen.” He stood and towered over her, and she backed up to the entrance of the tent, trying to avoid his heat, his scent. Spicy. Fiery. Exhilarating.

  “I’m listening,” she squeaked. After all, her job was on the line.

  He put an arm above her on the frame of the tent, giving her a long view of his perfect collarbones, huge, square chest muscles, hard, rippling abs, and lean hips. Just a sliver of taut, tanned skin showed as his shirt lifted slightly. She licked her lips, and his eyes dipped to catch the motion, a pleased smile sliding over his lips.

  “A million dollars for the charity of your choosing, and I’ll do the auction,” he said.

  She opened her mouth to thank him, but he put a finger up to gently graze her lips, stopping her and making her knees go weak. She hated the effect he had on her. Was it just the lioness in her seeing the breeding potential, or was he just that hot?

  “In exchange, you stay with me for a week, get to know me. If after that, you’re still sure you hate me and it could never work between us, you’re free to go.”

  She slowly nodded, hypnotized by his gaze. “And I’ll be safe?”

  “I have staff around. We won’t be alone. Not if you don’t want us to be.”

  She trusted him, though. He couldn’t afford to screw up with a lion, not as someone responsible for their well-being, however distantly. And he could have just forced the subject or been a douche. But he obviously was just willing to bank on his confidence that he could win over any woman if given a chance.

  “I’ll do it,” she said.

  “Good.” He nodded once. “Then you can tell your boss I’ll do the auction. He grinned and stretched. “Want to seal the deal with a kiss?”

  She glared up at him, but a tingle ran straight through her as her eyes flitted to his firm lips.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, leaning forward.

  She put her hands up against his chest, and he stopped immediately, looking down at her with those curious blue eyes, as if wondering what she’d do next.

  But her hands curled into his shirt, unable to resist his heat and his nearness and the brush of his muscles under her fingertips.

  One kiss, to seal the bargain. What could it hurt? A part of her was still disappointed it hadn’t happened earlier. This would probably be the only time she touched him, so might as well do it here, in this unromantic tent while closing a business deal.

  She pulled at his collar, and he growled as he leaned forward and closed his lips over hers in a searing kiss that made her limp down to her toes. His huge arm ca
me around her, steadying her, as his tongue lightly explored her mouth, softly stroking as she felt she could faint, it felt so good.

  She’d been kissed, but never like that. Like his mouth was making promises his body wanted to fulfill. Like he was saying if his tongue could do that much to her, she should watch out for how much the rest of him could do.

  Her hands stayed twisted in his shirt as he slowly pulled back, gazing down at her.

  She was wet and achy at the apex of her legs, which felt like Jell-O. He held her with both arms until she was steady enough to push away. Her heart was hammering, her lips warm and swollen, her blood rushing.

  “Let’s go outside. Tell your friend I’ll be driving you home to get your things.”

  “We’re starting tonight?”

  He nodded, like that was always expected.

  She sighed and followed him out of the tent, knowing they might as well get it over with as soon as possible. It was just seven days.

  Her legs were still weak, her body still flushed as they walked back into the night air.

  Just one kiss could affect her like that. And she’d just agreed to stay a week with him.

  What the hell had she done?

  4

  Beau sat in his car while he waited for Stacy to go into her home and get her things together.

  What had he been thinking, suggesting such an arrangement in the heat of the moment?

  She’d been rejecting him, something he never saw coming, and he couldn’t just let her walk away. It wasn’t just the oracle thing, either. There was a connection between them. He was attracted to her. He liked the way she gave him crap, didn’t just fall over and fawn over him.

  He liked the way she looked. Liked the way she boldly asked about the charity auction, even after slapping him. She had guts.

  Still, his brother was going to be pissed when he heard what was going on.

  It had been Beau’s only idea at the time, but it was risky. Who knew how the week would actually go? He was betting on his ability to win over any woman, but this was the one woman who didn’t seem affected by him in any way.

  He grinned and rubbed his chin, remembering the kiss. No, there was one way she was really affected by him. Their lions were completely compatible. The sex would be off the charts hot. If she ever allowed that.

  He didn’t want anything she didn’t. And he wasn’t going to push her any further. No matter how many times she gave him that needy, hungry look that said she wanted him physically but hated him mentally. If he wanted to win her over, he’d need to play the long game. Show her he could be trusted, get her to open up and say why she hated him despite not even knowing him, and then show her how great they could be as mates.

  He trusted the oracle. He had to. The fate of the world depended on it. There was a lot of turmoil on Pride Island, and though it had been suppressed the past few years, there were still lions who felt the place of shifters was over the humans, not hiding among them. And enough charismatic lions controlling dragons and other shifter tribunals could pull that off.

  Beau knew the truth, that power should be used to protect others, not rule them. But not everyone got that. Luckily, his brothers did, but they’d fought hard and lost a lot to stand for that ideal. He knew most people on the island would never know that, though.

  She was probably one of them. He didn’t know how to make her understand that without telling her things she really shouldn’t be privy to unless she was his mate, which she hadn’t agreed to yet.

  Maybe she never would. What would they do then?

  His phone rang, and he picked it up with a sigh, knowing it would be his brother Ace, looking for an update, since he knew Beau was scheduled to meet with Stacy for the first time. Now he’d have to tell him it hadn’t gone as well as he’d thought, and his worry-prone brother would fly off the hook as usual.

  “Hi, Ace,” he said.

  “I told you to stop calling me that,” his brother said tersely. Then, after a pause, he added, “How’d it go?”

  Beau snorted. “I’m fine. How are you?”

  “I mean the mate thing,” Ace said.

  Beau sighed. That was Axel. All business. “Not too well.”

  Axel exhaled into the phone, his frustration and stress nearly palpable “What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” Beau said, watching the house to make sure she wasn’t on her way out yet. “She hated me from the start.”

  “Did she say why?” Axel said, sounding as puzzled as Beau felt.

  “No,” Beau said. “Might be something about the family? I can’t tell. I think it’s a general resistance to anything to do with the island. At least I hope it is.” He scratched his head. “That would be easier to overcome.”

  “So what are you going to do?” his brother asked flatly. “We can’t afford for this to go wrong.”

  “I know,” Beau replied, annoyed at his brother’s lack of trust. He couldn’t just force the issue. But he knew his brother carried immense burdens on his shoulders, and it often made him grumpy and hard to deal with. Heaven help the woman the oracle matched him with when it was time. Beau secretly hoped it was someone who could help Ace lighten up.

  “I asked what are you going to do?”

  “I heard you,” Beau retorted, leaning back in the chair and keeping his eyes on the house. “Look, I have it under control, I think.”

  “What did you do?” Ace asked again, suspiciously.

  “I sort of… asked her to stay at my house.”

  “What? Why would she do that if she hates you?” Ace asked. “You aren’t just using your body…”

  “No,” Beau said, amused. “We made a deal. I’m donating to her charity.”

  “How much?” Ace asked.

  “A million dollars. My own money.”

  “Cool,” Ace said. “Charity is always good.”

  Not to mention their family had plenty at their disposal. Money was never a problem. Winning the right mate was. “Anyway, I’m also willing to do this auction,” he said.

  Ace was quiet for a moment. “I thought you hated those kinds of things.”

  “I do,” Beau said. “It always felt sort of like I’d be betraying my mate. But hey, if my mate is the one asking…”

  “Then you’re okay being a piece of meat?” Ace asked.

  “Let’s be honest,” Beau said. “I’m a piece of meat to a lot of the world. It’s how I have all that influence you like me to have.”

  Ace sighed. “True.”

  Beau rankled slightly at that, but it was the truth. As much as he liked his music and being out in the world and off the island, he knew there were ulterior motives to everything. He needed to be someone who could go anywhere and do anything. Who he was inside didn’t so much matter. The fact that he could win people over with his looks and talent did.

  But maybe that’s why he was looking forward to this week alone. He could help Stacy see the man inside. Maybe a man he didn’t know any longer, because it was hard to separate himself from the public persona. And he wanted his future mate to know more than that about him.

  “This is a big risk you’re taking,” Ace said.

  “She was going to walk out on me,” Beau explained.

  Ace laughed at that. “A woman walking out on you? I don’t believe it.” He exhaled. “The oracle must have a sense of humor.”

  “Hey, aside from the fact that she hates me, she’s basically perfect.” Beau chuckled.

  “I see,” Ace said. “Well, I expect updates. And don’t blow it. You know what’s at stake.”

  Beau did. But he also knew everything at stake didn’t override the needs of one person. Stacy still had a right to choose who she wanted, and he just needed to make sure he was that man.

  He hoped she could like him for him, but he was willing to be whatever she needed. He saw light from the front door as she opened it, and he hopped out of the car to help with her bags.

  “She’s on her way out. I gotta go,” he tol
d his brother. “Take care. Love you man.”

  “You, too,” his brother replied in a surly tone. “And don’t screw up.”

  Beau hung up on him as he walked up the front steps to take Stacy’s bags from her hands. She looked up at him in harried confusion, as if she hadn’t been expecting him to help, but then simply clutched only her purse and followed him to the car.

  She sat in the front seat, and he was glad he drove a Volvo for the soft leather seats and the little sigh she let out as she sank into the them. It wasn’t exactly the car people expected from a celebrity, but he loved how comfy the interior was and the fact that his manager trusted him to drive it on his own.

  She looked over at him with tired eyes, and he wondered if maybe he should have given her the night at her house. But then she might have thought about it and changed her mind.

  Truthfully, he probably would have agreed to the charity auction and still donated the money on his own if she’d asked him to. But he was glad he had a chance to win his mate instead.

  “I have people at the mansion who can go pick up anything you need, so if you discover you forgot something or you’re missing anything, just let me know, okay?”

  She nodded. A few strands of her dark hair fell out of her tight ponytail and waved slightly in the humid night air. He wanted to reach out and brush one back but knew it wouldn’t be welcome. He had to overcome her prejudice toward him first.

  “We’re sleeping in separate rooms,” she said as they got onto the highway and he sped up. “And no sex.”

  He gave her a sideways glance. “At all? Even if you beg me?”

  She clenched her legs together in that way she kept doing whenever something sexy came up, and he felt himself grow a little hard in response.

  Calm down, Beau. You aren’t a schoolboy. But being with his mate could apparently make him feel that way.

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine without it for a week,” she said. “After all, I’m sure you can get it whenever you want it.”

  He shrugged. There was no good answer to that. He guessed his number was a lot lower than she thought. When he was younger, he’d given in to more aggressive women out of sheer pressure, but as he’d gotten older, he’d simply found little joy in the thought of physicality with anyone who wouldn’t be his mate. Mostly, he found joy in his music and went home alone to quiet nights in his mansion.