Free Primal Heat 1 by A. C. Arthur Page B

edge of the bed, with the now-rumpled comforter.
    Their scent filled the room—the musk of sex, combined with the earthy shifter aroma. It was intoxicating, wafting through the air like some sort of hypnotic agent, convincing him that the more important thing to do at this moment was to stop her from getting dressed and to sink inside her hot, wet pussy once more.
    “Questions about what?” was her response. He would have been a fool to believe she’d keep quiet and let him do the talking.
    “Your parents and some donations they’ve made recently,” he told her, being careful to watch everything about her for a reaction.
    It would be within the first few seconds of hearing his statement and digesting what he’d said. She would either look or smell guilty, or not. Seeing as his senses were operating at their own whim, Eli wasn’t sure what he would rely on.
    “I have no idea what my parents do,” she replied slowly. Her hands had stilled only minutely as she stopped tucking her shirt into her pants and looked up at him. She hadn’t broken the eye contact and she didn’t look like she was guilty. As for the scent, Eli almost growled. All he could smell was their combined aroma, in all of its seductive and damning glory.
    He frowned. “You’re their child, how can you not know what they do?”
    She looked affronted. “Where are your parents right now? What are they having for dinner? What was the last business transaction they completed?” she fired back.
    “I’m asking you a specific question,” he stated as calmly as he could because the attraction to her was slowly winning the battle over the serious nature of the conversation. On the one hand he was irritated as hell by the fact that Nick was questioning Nivea’s allegiance to the tribe. On the other, his dick was already hard, his body craving hers as if he hadn’t just been inside her a half hour ago.
    “Why are your parents making contributions to the Comastaz Labs?”
    There was an instant reaction to that question. Her eyes widened and she swallowed, clearly thinking about how she would respond before doing so. Eli stood, crossing the room until he was in front of her. He felt safe in doing so now only because she was fully dressed, except for her boots.
    “Answer the question,” he prompted.
    She lifted her hands, smoothing down her hair then letting her arms fall to her sides once again. “First,” she said after a deep breath and even deeper exhale. “As far as the romance and holding a girl through the afterglow of lovemaking, you suck.”
    Eli didn’t even flinch at her words, not at all offended by her declaration. If there was one thing he didn’t want to be good at, especially as far as Nivea was concerned, it was romance.
    “Second, in addition to their marketing firm, my parents own a couple of nonprofit foundations. I don’t know where any of their money goes or why.”
    “How is that possible?” he queried, sounding as confused as he felt. He didn’t live with his parents but he knew that his father had just retired from the government aide position he’d held for more than thirty years and that his mother, still as pretty as ever, supervised a showing of artwork that had been in her family for centuries.
    She blinked then stepped around him, bending down to pick up her boots before taking the spot he’d just vacated on the bed. “Look, I’m not close with my family. So I don’t know what they’re doing.”
    “But you don’t sound at all surprised that they would give money to Comastaz.”
    “It’s a government laboratory. I’m sure if there’s any type of monetary or social reward for their donation, that would be the reason they made it. My parents are really big on keeping up appearances.”
    “Even at the cost of betraying the shifters?”
    She looked up at him then, her lips drawn tightly. “I answered your question to the best of my ability. Are we done now?” She’d finished tying both boots and was