Free A Conquest Like No Other by Emma Anderson Page A

be women, once she was
conscious. Her connection to this man didn’t make sense, but it was one she
craved.
    Maybe her lack of fear was due to
the fact that he had positioned himself in the role of family member rather
than a man looking for something from her. Her fear of intimacy was not needed
in this relationship because it wasn’t on the cards with Viper. If only her
body would listen to that reasoning.
    Even though she had reasoned this
out in her head, she still found herself asking the one thing that she had been
wondering since meeting him. “Why aren’t I scared of you?”
    “You really haven’t worked it out
yet?”
    “No, should I have?” she replied,
crossing her arms across her chest. She really didn’t like being confused.
    “I would have thought that with
Gabby as your best friend, she would have helped you reason out your attraction
toward me.”
    “Wow, Tatts, you’re an arrogant
one, aren’t you?”
    “It’s not arrogance if it is
true,” came his reply. “Are you now going to try to deny your desire for me?”
    Nikki felt like this was the
pivotal point in their relationship. Though she had no idea why. It wasn’t like
she could act on her feelings for this man. He was family. And even if that
weren’t true, she doubted her fear and body would allow her to become intimate
with him so easily.
    “It doesn’t matter what I’m
feeling, Tatts. Nothing can come of it.”
    “You are wrong on both counts,
sweetheart,” he said, moving in front of her. “What you are feeling matters a
great deal to me. And as for nothing coming of these feelings we have for one
another, it’s out of our hands.”
    “Why’s it out of our hands?” she
asked, both eager and terrified to hear the answer.
    Placing his hands on her upper
arms, he gave them a gentle squeeze. With pride in his gaze, he replied,
“You’re my mate.”
      “No! No! No!” she said, stepping away from
Viper. She didn’t get too far, though. He reached out again and grabbed both of
her arms. She struggled to escape his grasp. Didn’t he understand that she was
no good for him? She was broken.
    “Yes, sweetheart,” he cajoled.
“This wasn’t how I wanted you to find out, but I couldn’t allow your confusion
to continue, either. Had I known of it sooner, I would have eased it then and
there. But the only emotions I have sensed from you when we were together were
your desire, which I might add is reciprocated, and your anxiety.”
    “How do you know?” she asked,
though deep down she knew what he was saying to be true. She had not long ago
witnessed Gabby go through exactly what she was currently. She couldn’t believe
it had taken Viper telling her for her to put two and two together.
    “I have known since the
warehouse. As a fae , I see auras. They speak to me of
people’s emotions. Yours also shone pure white like only a mate would,” he
explained.
    “Wait fae !” she queried, eager to gain
some more information about this man. Her brain began filtering through what
she supposedly knew of these creatures and soon realized how misinformed she
was. “Like fairies, elves and sprites? Because let me tell you, Tatts, the cute
little creatures described in stories have nothing on you with your bad boy
looks.”
    “Thank you, I think,” Viper
replied, making no attempt to cover his laughter. It soon disappeared, replaced
by seriousness as he continued. “My people are nothing like those depicted in
stories. We are neither tiny nor do we have wings. We simply inhabit this world
in a different realm. We gain our power from Mother Earth, much like humans
once did before technology muffled their abilities, who gave us skin markings
to help us find our fated mate.”
    “You mean your tattoos?”
    “Yes, but mine are a part of me.
I was born with them, though they only became apparent when I hit puberty. Only
a mate can see them.”
    “But you weren’t happy about that
at first, were you?” she asked, remembering his