Lidiya Rihanoff was doing her best to be objective about the situation, which wasn’t easy when she was caught up in the center of a screaming, sobbing crowd.
She had spent the last hour slowly working her way through the hysterical throng until she found herself a place up against the crash barriers. It had proved surprisingly difficult. Lidi had trained with warriors. She knew how to deal with combat situations. This was different. Faced with an adoring group of rock fans who did not want to relinquish the opportunity to get up close to their idols, she was at a loss. Her usual street-fighting tactics wouldn’t do. Eye gouging and throat punching would have brought her to the attention of the police officers who were standing at regular intervals along the route. In the end, she resorted to strategically using her elbows. When that didn’t work, she dealt out a few surreptitious ankle kicks.
Now she was pressed right up against the barrier, with a clear view of the movie theater and its red-carpeted steps. From the mounting fervor, and the way the security guards were pacing back and forth along the street, she guessed the stars were about to arrive at any minute.
It was winter, but the temperatures in the South of France were like a summer day in her home country of Callistoya. Sweat beaded her forehead and trickled down her spine as she was jostled and pushed. Even so, she couldn’t remove her sweatshirt. Beneath it, her long-sleeved T-shirt was torn, the shredded material revealing the injuries to her arm. She couldn’t risk drawing attention to herself.
“Here they come!” The woman next to her spoke English, a language in which Lidi was fluent. Her screech was accompanied by a curious gesture. Putting her fingers on either side of her head, she made them into devil horns. A quick glance around revealed a number of other people doing the same thing. She laughed at Lidi’s bemused expression. “Sign of the Beast.”
Two stretch limousines drew up to one side of the theater. On the opposite side of the street, hundreds of photographers were already in position with their cameras poised.
A man bounded out of the first vehicle before it had stopped, and the flashbulbs went wild in time with the crescendo around Lidi.
“Who is he?” She had to mouth the words to the helpful stranger.
“Khan. Lead singer.” She got up close and yelled her response directly into Lidi’s ear. “The woman with him is his wife, Sarange.”
Lidi watched as the group of glamorous figures exited the cars and posed on the red carpet. Her new friend bellowed out an excited commentary. Next came Torque, the rhythm guitarist, with his blonde wife, Hollie. The dark-haired, muscle-bound man with the brooding expression was the drummer, Diablo. Then there was the lead guitarist, Dev, and the bass player, Finglas.
Lidi paid only scant attention. Her interest in the members of the internationally famous rock band Beast began and ended with their ability to lead her to the man she was seeking. Was he here? She scanned the group on the red carpet. He had to be here.
As if the intensity of her thoughts had somehow communicated themselves across the distance between the crash barriers and to the building on the other side of the road, a man strode down the steps. He was talking on his cell phone, clearly engrossed in his conversation.
Lidi’s breath caught in her throat. Just from his height and the width of his shoulders she knew it was him.
She gestured to the woman next to her, not trusting her voice.
“Ged Taverner.” A little shiver ran through Lidi as she heard the name. “He’s Beast’s manager.”
Ged Taverner. That was what he called himself now, but Lidi knew his true identity. The tall, imposing figure she was looking at was Gerald Tavisha, the rightful king of Callistoya.
She had heard so much about this man that his nearness almost took her breath away. Until his exile he had embodied everything the warrior-heroes of the magical shifter state of Callistoya held dear. Chivalry, honor and a deep, abiding love of their country.
Lidi would never understand why he had stayed away instead of raising an army and fighting the man who had stolen his throne. But all that mattered now was that she had found him.
As she gazed across the distance between them, a new sensation swept over her. Stinging and cloying at the same time, like a hit of hot sugar surging through her bloodstream. It was the craziest feeling, a wild urgency that made her want to vault over the barrier and throw herself into Ged Taverner’s arms.
She looked around her at the longing faces. Mass hysteria. That must be what she was experiencing. Despite her noble upbringing, she had put her dignity aside and been infected by the mood around her. But she wasn’t here to be part of this. She was a Rihanoff of Aras. She could rise above it.
It didn’t matter what she told herself. The feeling persisted, growing stronger, becoming a wild, yearning ache throughout her body, but centering very specifically in the throbbing pulse between her legs. Everything around her came sharply into focus, every sense heightening until she was quivering with tension.
What exactly is happening to me?
Her concentration became centered on Ged and it appeared she was not the only one suffering. Frowning, he looked up from his call, the cell phone held slightly away from his ear as he scanned the crowd. Excitement powered through Lidi as a new realization hit her.
It’s him. He is the reason I’m feeling this way.
Across the yards that separated them, she knew he could feel the same longing that was driving her demented. An invisible cord between them was being tightened, drawing them closer together. Heat burned up the air between them. The urge to go to him and wrap her body around his was becoming a storm in her blood.
Because of the distance, she couldn’t see the finer detail of his looks, but her impression was of strength and muscle, of ruggedly carved aristocratic features, a square, stubborn chin, wavy, butterscotch-brown hair, and eyes that faced the world with the same bravery and determination as her own. It was the look that had embodied Callistoya. Once. Before the unthinkable had happened.
Just as she thought she couldn’t take any more, the group on the red carpet began to move. With a final wave to the fans, they made their way inside the theater. Ged remained on the steps for a moment or two after they’d gone, a look of confusion on his face.
Finally, with a reluctant shrug, he turned away and the spell was broken. Lidi shuddered as her body tried to deal with the return to normality. She almost laughed out loud. Normality? For her, there would never be such a thing again.
She had come here to find the only man who could save her father and her country. It had not been part of her schemes to also find her mate. But the decree of the fates was absolute. For every shifter there was a match. One true life partner. The rush of feeling she’d experienced when she gazed at Ged could mean only one thing. The fates had decided he was the one for her.
Stifling a groan, she tried to get her errant emotions under control. Arousal? Attraction? Gazing longingly at the handsome bear-shifter king? Being struck dumb by my fated mate? I don’t have time for this right now.
Lidi had a plan and she was determined to stick to it. Resolutely, she turned to her helpful new acquaintance.
“Do you know where the band are staying?”
* * *
Ged Taverner tried to concentrate on what the man standing next to him was saying.
“Small venues are a nightmare.” Rick, Beast’s head of security, gazed moodily out at the crowd of fans. “Give me an arena or a sports stadium