What he said made her pause. For a long time she thought Brian was the one and she couldn’t have been more wrong. She didn’t want to make the same mistake again. The price she paid and heartache she’d suffered were too great.
He seemed able to read the doubt in her face. “I know I’m asking a lot for you to put blind faith in us, but bear with us, we’ll prove to you what it means to be a tiger’s mate.”
“Okay.”
“Now, how about a bath, then let’s change our venue to the bed? I have a surprise for you.”
“Ooh? What kind of surprise?”
“It won’t be a surprise if I tell you, would it?” Collin pecked her lips. “Come.”
Chapter Three
Collin and Danielle checked out from the hotel shortly after nine in the morning and returned to the Dakota. Dane greeted her in the now quiet apartment. Their housekeeper had just left, leaving no trace of the party.
They chatted about their childhood as shifter kittens growing among humans. Their parents wanted them to learn how to blend into society at an early age, something most shifter parents were averse to. Danielle was awed by all the mischief the twins got themselves into.
She opened to them gradually, sharing her past. But she avoided the part about Brian. And luckily, Collin and Dane didn’t pry. She was grateful for that. She didn’t want the two most amazing men she’d ever met to pity her.
Collin left after helping Dane clean the kitchen, giving his brother and Danielle some alone time. Dane told her he had plans for the rest of the afternoon: he’d take her for romantic sightseeing in Manhattan. Danielle was delightfully surprised.
Dane took her to the art museum on Fifth Avenue. She quickly discovered she and Dane shared the same fondness of master painters during the Dutch Golden Age and early Renaissance. They perused the wealth of collection of the museum from Botticelli, Vermeer, and Rembrandt.
Dane shattered her expectations from what she originally thought about shape shifters. He was well-educated, polite, charming, and affectionate. She was well aware of the attention Dane received from people, and the envious stares directed to her. And Dane wasn’t shy about showing everyone he had eyes only for her.
They walked hand in hand as they went from one gallery to another. Dane stroked her hair and whispered intimately in her ear. She couldn’t help comparing him to Brian. Her ex-fiancé wasn’t the type who liked being lovey-dovey in public. Brian was more introverted about intimacy and she got used to that. But for a change, she enjoyed the attention Dane showered onto her. Dane knew how to make a girl feel special.
They exited the museum around four p.m. Dane took her to a boutique on Fifth Avenue and told her to pick a little black dress to wear for the evening. She wasn’t comfortable at first but Dane insisted on spoiling her.
“My brother and I only have forty-eight hours to court you,” he said, “I wish I had more time than that. For the sake of my ego, please allow me to treat you as my lady.”
She couldn’t say no.
Dane patiently waited as the personal shopper of the boutique brought her beautiful dresses to try. He complimented each time she put on a new dress for his approval as his sharp gaze hungrily raked over her body. She was flustered like a schoolgirl with a crush. It had been a long time since she felt that way. Dane made her feel alive again.
She walked out of the boutique wearing a new dress and felt like a million dollars. From there, they took a taxi to the Empire State Building and watched the sunset from the observatory deck on the 102nd floor.
It was magical to see the cityscape bathed in twilight. She was a little giddy when they exited the building and went to their next stop via taxi. Dane had reserved a table at a swanky Riverpark restaurant. They dined outdoors. She ordered a Berkshire pork chop while Dane had rack of lamb. After dessert and coffee, they headed back to Central Park as Dane ended the romantic evening with riding in a horse-drawn carriage through the park.
It was near ten p.m. when they returned to the Dakota. Danielle was giddy from champagne and so pent-up with lust, she sighed in relief when Dane pulled her to the bedroom not two minutes after he closed the front door.
“Dane…”
He kissed her, tasting her sweetness, her lusciousness, everything she had to offer. This woman was an aphrodisiac. She had awakened the very primal part of him that he didn’t know existed until he saw her. She was his mate. And his brother’s. She was the one. And Dane intended to put his claim on her. Make her his. Theirs. As it should be.
His cock hardened under his trousers. The beast inside him growled impatiently. He wanted her. Needed to mate now…
Blood rushed through his veins and fevered heat surged through him.
Her scent. Fucking unbelievable. It was intoxicating his olfactory senses. His heartbeat quickened with each second. He would’ve never imagined, but he was already in love with her. He had no idea how it happened—he just did. As if every fiber of his being knew this all along. This woman belonged to him. To them. And Dane would never let her go as long as his heart still beat.
Danielle made a sexy purring noise in her delicate throat as he kissed her deeper and deeper. He thrust his tongue into her while imagining what it would be like to thrust his cock into her pussy.
His erection became impossibly harder under his briefs. His balls tightened.
He kissed her open-mouthed. He felt her all over. Her ample breasts. Her lush hips. Her thick thighs and long legs.
Every inch of her was mouthwatering and he couldn’t get enough.