Free Treasured Find (Royal Pride Book 1) by Nancy Corrigan Page B

needed a male’s touch.
    His touch.
    He wanted to rip the thin top off her body and put his mouth on her breasts, teasing her until she squirmed for him. Until she was begging him to fuck her.
    He groaned and adjusted his cock.
    “The female’s got you twisted up. Be careful.” The warning was clear in Kade’s tone.
    Rafe faced his brother once Jasmine slipped inside the house. Kade sat with his back against a tree. The intense glare focused on Rafe demanded his secrets. Rafe snorted. His brother could level his alpha stare at him all he wanted. He wasn’t getting anything more than Rafe was willing to share, which wasn’t much.
    “Be careful of what? Blue balls?” He glanced at the front of his jeans and the bulge there. “Got those already. That’s why I need to get Jasmine alone. She left me in this state, and by the gods, she’s going to take care of me.”
    “I’m not talking about sex.” Kade waved his hand to encompass Rafe’s body. “You’re tense. You watched her bedroom window all night and left me to prowl the grounds.”
    He’d done more than that. While Kade had shifted and explored the area, Rafe had made his way to the house. He’d stood below Jasmine’s window simply to hear her breathing.
    “And?” Rafe leaned against a tree, one leg stretched in front of him and the other bent. The relaxed pose was for Kade’s benefit. He didn’t need to know how damn edgy thoughts of Jasmine had left Rafe. “That’s part of surveillance. We’ve spent many nights dealing with humans who were in this exact situation. We confirm the kids are safe, then assess the situation before deciding the best way to retrieve them so as not to frighten them.”
    “True. That’s standard practice.” Kade leaned forward. “Getting involved physically with their human guardians isn’t. That’s asking for trouble.”
    Rafe couldn’t deny that. “I didn’t know she was the guardian of shifter cubs when I met her.”
    “No. You just thought she was involved either in shifter trafficking or romantically with another Royal.”
    “What better way to get her to trust me then to get her in bed?”
    “You’re using her.” Kade smirked. “Is that the shit you’re trying to feed me?”
    Rafe glanced away. He couldn’t look his brother in the face and lie. Kade knew him too well. “We still need to find out how she came to be the guardian of shifters. I intend to learn her secrets. If that means getting close to her to gain the knowledge, then that’s what I’ll do.”
    “Look me in the eye and tell me that.”
    “No.” Rafe glanced at him. “I have nothing to prove to you.”
    “Then I’ll call you a liar. You want to get close to the woman because she’s caught your cats’ attentions.” Kade dropped a hand to the ground and leaned forward. “You’re sitting here wondering if your cats sense something about her you don’t. That maybe she’s your true mate.”
    “She triggered my instincts. I’ll admit to that, but it’s because she smelled of another male. I wanted to steal her away. Simple as that.”
    “Yeah, she smelled of her cubs.”
    Rafe shrugged. “Again, I didn’t know it at the time. You can’t tell a shifter’s age by scent alone.”
    “All right. I can buy that excuse as the reason you first got her naked, but—”
    “She wasn’t naked.” He would’ve been happy if she had been, though. He could’ve licked her head to toe before he slipped his dick inside her.
    “—but what’s your excuse for the way you’re acting now?”
    “What did the fire chief say when you talked to him?” Rafe was done with Kade’s interrogation. Rafe didn’t want to analyze why he had a raging hard-on for Jasmine.
    Kade sighed and shook his head, obviously guessing at the reason behind the change in subject. “Not much. I got the usual—I can’t share information associated with an active investigation—so I dropped Colonel Malory’s name.”
    The older human had been instrumental