For over three years, he'd remained mute rather than listen to the laughter and insults of others as they'd cruelly mimicked his stutter. But for his friend, Buffalo, he'd have never spoken again to anyone.
Unlike the rest of their clan, Buffalo hadn't minded it, nor had Buffalo thought him stupid because of it.
Together, they'd invented their own sign language so that Ren could speak without using his voice.
Yet it wasn't just his stutter that kept him silent now. He didn't know what to say to her. He'd always been awkward with women. Buffalo used to joke that Ren could lead an army of men into battle and never hesitate. That he could face down an entire den of bears with his bare hands and not flinch.
Put a woman in front of him and he trembled like an errant child facing an angry parent.
If any clan wants to bring us down, all they have to do is send a woman after you and you'll run screaming for the woods.
That was because as bad as he hated to be mocked and insulted by men, it was even harder to take from a woman he found desirable. Nothing stung worse than to muster the courage to talk to a woman and then have her shoot him down before he could get more than a badly stuttered word out.
And if they laughed at him ...
There were some humiliations no one needed.
As much as he despised it, he was extremely attracted to this woman. All he could think about was tasting her lips. Of making love to her until they were both spent and dizzy.
To have one moment in her arms ...
But he wasn't brave enough to risk it. He'd been mocked enough in his life. Now, he only wanted to exist in solitude.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Ren would have ignored it had it not been Talon's ringtone. He still needed to tell them that the Ixkib was safe.
Pulling his phone out, he turned his back to the woman and answered it. "Osiyo?"
Kateri froze at how deep and resonant his voice was as he said "hello" in Tsalagi. It sounded nothing like it did in her dreams. It was much, much more masculine and baritone-like rumbling thunder.
And while his back wasn't as terrifying as that penetrating grimace he wore whenever he faced her, it was every bit as well formed as his front. The kind of back that begged a woman to run her hand down it so that she could feel those hard muscles flex.
Her throat went dry as a wave of desire seared her. Stop it, Ter ...
That was much easier said than done. There was something about him that was absolutely magnetic.
"She's here." Then Ren was silent again as he listened.
Well, at least I'm not the only one he ignores. She was surprised he wasn't tapping out his answers on the phone-one tap meant yes. Two for no.
After a few seconds, he spoke again. "Later." He hung up and closed the phone, then turned back around.
"So, you can speak," she teased.
His face completely somber, he nodded as he slid the phone into his pocket.
"Can I ask who was on the phone, since it was obviously about me?"
"Talon."
At least she finally got a word from him that was actually directed at her. "You know ... wow, these two-syllable answers ... impressive. Can I ratchet it up to three? Oh heck, let's go for broke and get a whole sentence out. What do you think?"
Ren wanted to be angry at her, but for some reason he found her charming. She wasn't attacking him ... she was playfully teasing him about the very things Jess, Choo, and Talon got on to him for.
Because of the way he'd been treated as a human, he never liked conversing with people. It was easier to pretend they didn't exist. After all, he'd been invisible to most of them while he'd lived. Hell, even in death people rarely acknowledged him. It was why he kept to the shadows, out of their sight.
"C'mon, big guy," she said, rising up on her tiptoes so that she could lay her hand against his jaw.
The moment her flesh touched his, his entire body went white-hot. Every hormone he possessed fired into overdrive. For a moment, he couldn't breathe as that heat seared him and he tried to imagine what she'd taste like.
With a smile that caused his stomach to flutter, she moved his jaw up and down. "You can do it. Look how easy...." Then she deepened her voice to mimic his. "Wow, Teri. I never knew speaking would be so easy. Thanks for telling me. I might even want to try and do this on my own one day."
In spite of himself, he smiled at her antics. No one had ever been so playful around him. Most kept a wide distance out of fear.
Pulling her hand away, he stared down at her. "Ha ha."
She scowled. "You really can't go over two syllables, can you? What? Did you lose a bet with a sorcerer or something? If you let out three does your head explode or do you get some form of ED?"
Erectile dysfunction? She did not just go there....
'Cause from where he was standing, there was no chance of that. He was harder right now than he'd been in a long time. And all he could think about was pressing her hand against the part of him that was begging for a taste of her.
C'mon, Ren ... just one small kiss....
Determined to keep her at a distance, he dropped his gaze to her arm.
His breath caught as his gaze focused on something that couldn't be right.
No. Not possible. It couldn't be. It was an illusion of the light. His mind playing some kind of sick joke ...
It had to be.
His heart pounding, he reached out to take her right wrist. Turning it over, he saw the faint mark at the crook of her elbow that was in the shape of a spider.
It's a coincidence....
But what if it wasn't?
"Where did you get this?" he asked, brushing his hand over the mark.
She looked down and her frown deepened. "I was born with it. And I'm impressed. See, you can speak a whole sentence and not spontaneously combust into flames. Amazing, isn't it?"
Honestly, he didn't register a single word of what she was saying. He couldn't. All he could focus on was a mark only one other person had ever borne.
One that no one else should have.
"What does your father say about this?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "Nothing. He walked out on us when I was a baby and I haven't seen him since."
His head reeling, he took a step back as everything started coming together.
She wasn't just the Ixkib. She was also the daughter of the First Guardian....