time went by. He didn’t have any periods when he didn’t hunger for his fix. If this was the rest of his life, he was screwed.
He really shouldn’t be here. Keeping away from her would have been the wisest move, but the rest of the world was conspiring against him. Even Ged was giving him some powerful reasons why he should consider this latest offer. In the end, Khan had taken a break from precious rehearsal time so he could look at Sarange and see how she was coping with the whole fated-mates, enforced separation situation. He hoped she was doing better than he was. And he wondered if she’d gotten a handle on her inner wolf yet. Because that whole denial thing was seriously weird.
Now that he was up close to her, he could see she was suffering. His gaze lingered on her face, drinking her in. Today her hair was drawn back in a thick braid that hung to her waist and she wore a crisp white shirt. Her jeans were tucked into soft leather boots. Even in casual clothing she managed to look like a Mongolian princess. Her face was heart-shaped, with flat high cheekbones tapering to a pointed chin. A broad, arrogant nose and full mouth added to the regal look. The only giveaway to her werewolf heritage was her eyes. Set under thick, soaring dark brows, they were twin chips of blue ice. Khan could see pain and confusion in their depths. Unlike him, he could tell Sarange still had no idea why she was hurting.
Life could be hard, and Khan knew from experience that went double for shifters. He experienced a brief, dangerous pang of sympathy for Sarange. Someone should sit her down and explain how these things worked. Not him. No way was Khan going there. But he wanted to take away that lost, hurt look in her eyes and replace it with the cynicism she would need to develop if she was going to survive as a werewolf in the human world. Maybe Ged could talk to her. The guy who had dedicated his life to rescuing damaged shifters had the experience and the skill.
“Are we done here?” Khan placed his hands on the table, indicating he intended to leave. Because he couldn’t put his body under this strain for much longer. There was only so much torment he could endure. And fighting the need to drag Sarange into his arms was just about the worst torture he had known. Coming from Khan, a weretiger who had endured capture, imprisonment and near death, that was quite an admission.
“Wait.” Sarange’s voice was quiet, almost pleading. When she raised her eyes to his, it was as though there was no one else in the room. “Just hear me out. Please?”
In spite of the voice in his head urging him to get right away from her and do it fast, Khan sank back into his seat. There was a tiny flare of gratitude in her eyes. And, in that instant, he was lost. He understood how medieval knights of old felt when they performed heroic deeds to prove their worth. Climbing beanstalks, defeating dragons—although the only dragon he knew was Torque, and he was generally harmless—and breaking magic spells. She wasn’t going to ask him to do any of those things. But he knew she was going to test his resolve.
“After to the red wolves, the blue wolves of Mongolia are the most endangered in the world. This pack has been gradually decreasing over the years so that now there are fewer than a hundred left.” Her voice was low, passionate. It was obvious how much this cause meant to her. “I agreed to travel to the region to make a documentary to raise awareness of their plight. Now the production company—” her eyes flickered to Radin “—have said they will withdraw the funding...unless you and I make the film together.”
“Why would they do that?” Even as Khan asked the question, he knew the answer.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sarange gave a bitter little laugh. “They’ll draw a huge audience because of the recent public interest in us.” She said the word “us” the way Khan thought it. Within bitter quotation marks. “It all comes down to money.”
Radin spoke up quickly. “We will, of course, be making a substantial contribution to the Animals Alive Foundation.”
Sarange ignored him. “Even if this film gets made, it may be too late for the blue wolves. The prediction is that they will be extinct within five years. But if we can raise awareness, begin a breeding program...who knows? There may just be a chance we can save them.”
“Why not make the film yourself using Animals Alive Foundation funds?”
“We couldn’t allow that.” Radin’s voice was smooth. “My company owns the rights to the documentary. How it is made is our decision.”
The sensation of being trapped was beginning to prickle along Khan’s spine. They thought they had him. Conscience, publicity, environmentalism, guilt...they thought they’d pressed all the right buttons and gotten him where they wanted him. Even Ged, his friend Ged, was expecting him to agree.
Well, to hell with this. Swinging up from his seat, Khan stalked out of the room without saying another word.
“Can I show you something?”
Sarange was so angry she wanted to barge past the man who spoke. She wanted to do a lot more than that. She wanted to eradicate anything to do with Khan from her life. If only it was that easy. Ever since she’d met him, it was as if he’d taken control of her thoughts as well as her body. For weeks now, she had been functioning only in relation to him. He was the first thing she thought of on waking, and the last image in her head at night. He occupied her whole attention in between, and then she dreamed of him while she slept. Her entire being burned with longing for this man. A man she had met once. A man she intensely disliked. It was the wildest, scariest, most wonderful feeling she had ever known.
Coming here today, knowing she would be seeing him again, had made her feel like a school kid with a crush. For days, she had been battling the butterflies in her stomach and the clamminess of her palms.
Will he remember the kiss? Does he wish it had ended differently? She had repeatedly tried to force her thoughts onto the most important thing. Can I persuade him to change his mind about collaborating?
When Khan had first walked into this meeting room, the roller coaster of her emotions was almost too much to bear. She had nearly convinced herself that her imagination was playing powerful tricks on her. She couldn’t possibly have fallen as fast and as hard for Khan as her body was telling her she had. The guy was an overbearing, conceited jackass. No woman in her right mind could find him attractive. Okay, his face and body were incredible...oh, heaven help me, I’ve been taken in by his pretty face and mouthwatering biceps.
Sarange had been at the pinnacle of fame for over a decade. If good looks and muscles were what she wanted, she could have taken her pick. And, now and then, that was what she had done. Brief, pleasant relationships that had ended without regret or recrimination. But what she felt for Khan? This wildness? She had no idea what it was. All she knew for sure was she had to fight it. If she didn’t, it would take over her life.
This issue with Radin and the documentary was a complication she could do without. Over the years, the Animals Alive Foundation had grown beyond her own desire to protect the endangered species about which she cared. Sarange’s driving passion had become a global nonprofit organization, her primary function. Recently, her singing and songwriting had taken second place to her role as a wildlife ambassador.
Even so, she couldn’t explain why she was so drawn to the plight of the blue wolf pack. What the hell is wrong with me? First there was this restless longing for Khan. Now she wanted to storm in and help a subspecies of wolf that was probably doomed anyway. There were bigger challenges facing the animal world. Ones that would attract far greater attention. Elephants, pandas, tigers...fight the sexy fights. It was no good. She didn’t understand why, but the blue wolves called to her. Sarange would do what she could to save them.
It was her desire to protect the blue wolves that had brought her face-to-face with Khan again. She tried to tell herself that was why she had flown from Los Angeles to New York for this meeting. It wasn’t out of any overwhelming desire to see him. And he had just rejected her. Again. She had created a situation in which he could storm out on her like a moody teenager...
She drew a deep breath