Free Therian Prisoner: 3 (Therian Heat) by Cyndi Friberg Friberg Page B

since her father died. If Ian could make her feel safe and happy, what more could she possibly want? She pressed her teeth into her lower lip and balled her hands in the quilt, determined not to make a complete ass of herself. He didn’t think of her like that, probably never would.
    Using curiosity to force away the awkward impulse, she pressed on, “Are you hundreds or thousands of years old? Why don’t you age?”
    “I’m not sure exactly when I was born. The passage of time meant little back then. The sun rose and set. Seasons came and went. We fought wars and people died. Beyond that, life seldom changed.”
    “That’s an evasion if I ever heard one. Round it to the nearest century. How old are you?”
    He sighed then admitted, “Sixteen hundred and twenty years, give or take a decade.”
    She sat again, momentarily stunned beyond words. It was quickly becoming apparent how little she knew about him. Is this why she’d never seen him with a mate? Had he outlived several or many? “Did you ever have a mate? Do you have children? Great-great-great-grandchildren stashed away somewhere?”
    “I was mated once, a very long time ago.” He sat as well, mirroring her position as he folded his legs in front of him. “She was killed before we had children.”
    “And you never tried again? I thought continuing the bloodline was an instinctive drive for Therian males.”
    “It is. But unlike Therian felines who can form a bond with anyone they choose, Therian raptors must search for that one special person who triggers the ‘pull’ in them. It’s an extremely strong attraction that makes it obvious the couple is meant to bond for life.”
    “Rather like feline heat?”
    He shook his head. “Feline heat affects any Therian male who encounters the female. The pull I’m talking about only attracts the couple to each other. It’s more like when wolf-shifters find their mate.”
    “And without this bond, raptors are unable to have children?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is there only one mate for each Therian raptor?” If so, his hope for children died with his wife. The possibility was too sad to even consider.
    “Of course not. I’ve searched for a new mate, but I haven’t felt the bonding pull with anyone else. At least not yet. I haven’t given up hope but, as you can imagine, it’s frustrating.”
    He’d only had one mate in over sixteen hundred years? That had to be more than frustrating. Of course, he must have had countless lovers. He’d just never found that one special someone who stirred more than desire. His gaze moved over her face and an odd intensity came into his eyes. He looked almost as if… No, that wasn’t possible. She’d never been able to spark romantic interest in Ian before. She must be projecting her own feelings onto him.
    “Where were you born? When did you come to America?” They seemed like the next logical questions.
    “I was born in Roman-occupied Britain. My people were called the Brigantes. I immigrated to America in 1823. The silver boom drew me to Colorado and I’ve been here ever since.” He rattled off the facts like an itinerary. “Is this really what you want to talk about?”
    Tension pulsed between them and she swallowed hard. “You’ve never been interested in what I want.” The desire smoldering in his eyes was unmistakable. She’d dreamed of the moment when Ian would realize she was a woman, pictured it a thousand times in her fantasies. So why was she so uncertain, so confused?
    He uncrossed his legs and pulled her toward him, bringing her up onto her knees. “Say it, Devon. Tell me what you want.”
    “I… You know I…” Heat cascaded from the crown of her head to the pit of her stomach, stirring all sorts of sensations in between.
    He leaned in and inhaled her scent then eased back and looked into her eyes. “When little girls look at grown men like this, they get themselves into trouble.”
    “I’m not a little girl anymore.”
    “I noticed.” His