"Aren't you just."

Chapter 9.

Erik led the way towards the club. He walked along the road when they reached the queue of people waiting to get in. When he realised that Kim had stopped at the back of it, he turned around to face her.

"What are you doing?" he laughed the words, a little giddy over being out with her. She did look fantastic in her little dress. It hadn't gone unnoticed that she'd chosen to wear black. It really suited her.

She'd look great in animal form.

"Queuing," she said with a shrug.

"Not queuing," he said and caught hold of her arm. He held onto it as he walked and then let go of her when she fell into step beside him.

"Don't we have to queue?" She looked confused.

"I don't queue." He laughed again and nodded towards the row of people all jostling and peering along the line towards the doors. "That's for them, not me."

"Oh," she said, her brows raised and her eyes wide.

He got the feeling she'd never had VIP access to a club before.

Reaching the door, he nodded at the bouncer. He was a huge round man, bald headed and hard as nails.

It was a strange contrast to his primal side. He'd seen him in cheetah form. As a human, he looked nothing like the slim, graceful cat he really was.

"Alistair here?" Erik said.

The bouncer shook his head and then grinned, exposing slightly elongated canines. Erik looked over his shoulder at Kim. She was staring open-mouthed at the hulking mass of man in front of her.

"Shall we?" Erik intimated the door as the bouncer took the black velvet rope off its hook, letting them

pass.

She moved past him with nothing more than another glance at the bouncer. When the bouncer grinned again, Erik wondered if this was such a great idea. It wasn't often that humans entered this club. If you didn't have the right identity card, the only way of getting in was to be accompanied by a shape-shifter.

Whenever a human did happen to come to the club, they were met with curious glances and whispered comments. He hoped it wouldn't be that way tonight. Usually humans came with the lower ranks, not with one of the elite like him.

This would cause a few rumours to spread. He gave it five minutes before people were talking about her and ten before they decided that she was a potential mate. The club would be packed and that's the only reason they'd be so slow. In a room with only ten or twenty shape-shifters, it would take a split second to smell her scent and know she was in heat.

Lucky for him that being in heat didn't mean it was open season for mating calls. Mates came around once in a lifetime, twice if you were fortunate, and were destined for one person only. Many of his kind didn't find their mates. He couldn't believe that he'd found his. With no face to go on, he'd thought it would be impossible.

He looked around him at the club. The dark interior was lit with blue lights and purple neon. It was packed just as he'd expected it to be. Between him and the bar were at least seventy people.

Kim looked at him, her eyes still wide, but this time she looked fascinated rather than curious.

"I'll get you a drink," he said over the noise of the music.

It was usually an eclectic mix, but on Saturdays, the club played purely rock and alternative music. It didn't mean there wasn't a slow song to dance to now and then. And it didn't mean that he couldn't get the management to play any song he wanted, regardless of genre.

He looked at Kim, wondering if she'd dare dance with him. When her eyes met his, fire swept through him and he narrowed his on hers. He stared intently into her eyes, letting her see his hunger and how she made him feel.

He wanted her. He was going to stop at nothing to get her.

Her pupils dilated. It wasn't the low light making them react. He could smell her scent. It told him she was as hungry as he was.

Leading her towards the bar, he leaned against it when they finally reached it and signalled the bartender. He recognised him. Another black panther. It was nice to have another one to talk to now and then. His species was rare amongst shape-shifters. The more common blood seemed to dominate, and that was the blood his father and brother had. Puma.

If he managed to convince Kim to mate with him, then he'd have another black panther to talk to. More often than not, a chosen mate was already a shape-shifter, but sometimes it turned out to be a human.

He ordered two glasses of wine.

His mother had already been a black panther when she'd mated with his father. Her bloodline extended back further than he could remember, but his father's went back further.

Handing one glass of wine to Kim, he silently toasted her and then nodded towards their destination. She looked there, and then back at him. He smiled reassuringly and started walking through the crowd. It was a tight squeeze, and a few steps in he realised that he was getting separated from Kim.

Kim gasped when a hand took hold of hers, gripping it tightly. She looked up to see Erik still smiling at her and then looked down at her hand where it was held in his.

The air in the room was cool, a shocking contrast to the muggy heat of outside. She'd expected it to be hotter in here, with all the people closely packed together, but the only time she'd felt hot since coming in was when Erik touched her. She shifted her hand in his, holding it and making the most of the chance. She was surprised when his fingers slipped in between hers, tightly locking their hands together. She stayed close behind him as they moved through the crowd, using him as a shield. There was no way she could see where they were going. She couldn't see anything above the people around her. They were all taller than her, and some of the women they passed were incredibly beautiful.

She wondered why Erik had chosen her when he could probably have any girl in this room.

His fingers tightened against hers, his thumb stroking hers softly. She stared at their hands, mesmerised by the tenderness he stirred by caressing her. It felt as though he was trying to reassure her and comfort her. She looked at his back. He glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes silently asking a question.

Was she all right?

She nodded.

He smiled and squeezed her hand.

A little thrill ran through her.

She wasn't imagining it. She couldn't be imagining it. He cared about her. His look; his actions; it all made her believe it.

They broke through the crowd and she was surprised that she'd made it through unscathed and with her drink intact. They moved past the booths at the side of the room and then walked down an aisle between two of them. Erik disappeared through a dark curtain. Following him in, she looked around at the room. It was lined with mirrors. A dark softly furnished bench seat wrapped itself around a small highly polished table.

Erik slid into the seat.

She shuffled in opposite him.

She noticed that he was reluctant to let go of her hand. The feel of his fingers pressing into her, holding her so tightly, made her warm inside. It wasn't just the wine. She took a sip of it to steady herself. It was good stuff, probably beyond what she could afford.

Looking across at Erik, she saw he was staring at their hands. There was an odd expression on his face, one that she couldn't quite interpret. It was somewhere between wonder and disbelief. Couldn't he bring himself to believe that he was holding her hand, touching her? She couldn't quite believe it herself. It felt so comfortable and natural.

He gave her a hesitant small smile and then released her. She took another sip of her drink, watching him lean across and close the curtain. She liked the privacy and seclusion it gave them. Suddenly she felt as though there was only her and Erik here. There weren't masses of people on the other side of the curtain.

He toyed with his glass and then frowned. It was thoughtful. She wondered what he was thinking and looked around the booth. The light was warm, contrasting with the colder lighting in the main part of the club. She could see herself in the mirror opposite. He'd said she was pretty. Maybe she was tonight. She felt pretty, sexy. He made her feel that way. His attention and smiles, and the way he touched her-it all combined to make her feel as though she really was sexy and attractive.

Shuffling back in her seat a little, she tried to get more comfortable and relaxed. She was sitting in silence with him again. It really was a nice feeling. As though they didn't have to say anything to each other-just being together was enough. He moved, pressing a button she'd not noticed before and then sitting back again. "So what do you want to know?" he said, his voice deep and almost a whisper. It made her stomach flip over, heating it a little more. He leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the table and intently staring at her. She blushed but knew he wouldn't be able to see it this time. The lighting in the booth would hide it well. She could blush all she wanted to here. He looked as though he was waiting for an answer so she thought about it for a while, trying to line up all the questions that she'd had floating around her mind since meeting him. She gulped a mouthful of wine to give herself some false courage and then leaned forwards too. His eyes dropped. She leaned forwards a little more, letting him get a better look at her cleavage. He wasn't the only one who could do seductive and sensual. The evident struggle it took for him to get his eyes back up to hers made her feel a bit dizzy, and when his gaze met hers, the temperature in the room seemed to triple. His eyes looked so yellow in this light, warm and shining. She stared into them, listening to the silent words of want and desire they spoke to her. Did her eyes look like that? As though they were begging him to throw the table to one side and forget the conversation and the wine, just take her instead. If she felt just a bit braver, she'd do as his were asking her. She wanted to see if the reality matched the thrill of the fantasy. She drank down the rest of the wine. It went straight to her cheeks. There was a knock on the frame surrounding the curtain. "Come," Erik said, his eyes still fixed on hers, dark and seductive. God did she want to. Someone drew the curtain aside and stepped in. She was vaguely aware of a man asking Erik something and then Erik responded. All the while, he was looking straight into her eyes. The curtain closed again. He drank the rest of his glass of wine. "Tell me about Alistair," she said. His expression darkened, losing all of its relaxed air. "What about him?" His voice matched his look. She could see the anger in his eyes and wished she hadn't mentioned his brother.

"You two don't seem to get along, that's all. You're both so different."

He leaned back into the seat and stared at the wall behind her. He was looking in the mirror. Was he trying to see if he was like his brother?

"He's like our father. I'm like our mother. They're both very different creatures and so are we. He thinks of nothing but women, and I think of other things." His dark look didn't shift.

She remembered Simon's words about Erik, or possibly Alistair.

"Blackwell," she said and Erik flinched. "It's an interesting name ... sounds like it has a lot of history."

"It has. A lot of bloody history. There's nothing nice about my name. Every connotation it gives, it lives.

My family history is not nice, Kim. Don't go there."

He definitely wouldn't call himself by just his last name then. Realising that she was making him

uncomfortable, she decided to bring the conversation away from his family.

The curtain opened again, revealing the same waiter as before. He placed an ice bucket down and presented a bottle of something with a flourish. She tried to see what it was. Two long stemmed champagne glasses were placed on little paper napkins on the table. The man left.

Erik poured her a glass of champagne.

"What is it?" she said, eyeing the deep rosy liquid. It was bubbling furiously. Something about it said that whatever slight hint of drunkenness she was feeling was about to explode into full-blown giddiness.

"Dom Perignon." He put the bottle back into the ice bucket and moved it to one side, away from them.

"It's pink."

He smiled and toasted her. "It's damn expensive. Just savour it. You seem to like rose and my bank

account can take it."

She sipped it. The bubbles went up her nose and carried the alcohol straight to her head. She smiled at the delicate flavour and smell of it. She'd thought the wine he'd bought at the bar had been expensive.

She'd never had Dom Perignon before, and doubted she'd ever have it again on her wages.

Leaning against the table, she smiled across at him. He was watching her, visible hunger still in his eyes.

"Do you like it?" he purred.

She nodded, and tried to think of another question to ask him while her entire body overheated. He'd

said that he'd tell her everything she wanted to know. What did she really want to know about Erik Blackwell?

"How old are you?"

He raised a brow and thoughtfully sipped his drink. "Thirty four."

Her brows rose too.

"Tell me about yourself." She propped her head up on one hand, conscious that he would be able to see right down her top again, and not caring. If anything, she wanted him to look. "I've got too many questions..."

"Give me a starting point," he said, resting his elbows on the table again and leaning closer to her. He moved his glass so it was next to hers. His hand was incredibly close and all she could think about was the way he'd held her-possessive, protective.

"Where did you grow up?"

He leaned back a little and looked thoughtful again. "That far back, eh?"

She nodded.

"All right. I grew up at my family home, but spent a lot of time at school, or abroad. My parents believed in a good education and that meant boarding school. Alistair didn't mind, but I did. I didn't like being sent away from my family." He frowned and then it melted away when he looked at her. "That probably makes me sound like I'm a big baby."

"Not at all. I've not really got any family. My parents are moving abroad for their retirement, thank God, and I barely see my sister. She's always so busy. We try to get together every so often to catch up but we just seem to be drifting apart." She took another sip of champagne. It really was delicious. The bubbles popped on her tongue, making her senses tingle. "How much younger than you is Alistair?"

"How did you know he was younger?" His expression turned curious.