Page 9 of Loving the Lion

“You taking a mate would not be an ideal situation at this time, friend.”

Bachar sighed. “Is it ever a good time to allow a willful woman to steal the heart from your chest?”

His words were met with silence as he’d suspected they would be. Neither man had fared well when it came to women. “Now tell me what you have discovered.”

“I have prepared your room for the night.”

As Sally watched the taillights of Bachar’s vehicle disappear, Daniel appeared beside her, silent and still, her backpack dangling from his hand. At his words, Sally immediately started to shake her head. She couldn’t afford a room here, she was certain of it. Her only hope was that they allowed her to stay here in the lobby until Bachar’s return. “I don’t need a room, but thank you.”

She reached out to take her bag from him, but he pulled it away. “The room has already been taken care of Miss Wilder. If you will follow me.” He turned and walked toward the shiny bank of elevators near the back of the room. Looking around at the other guests and staff members she realized she had very little choice in the matter. Unless she wanted to stay here and remain the focus of attention for the remainder of the night. She got in the elevator with the older shifter and decided to make the best of it. If she had to find a part-time job when this was all over to pay the bill, so be it. The most important thing was getting Nick home safe and sound.

Daniel pressed a button on the panel that had no number beside it, and she frowned. Not one to let the grass grow under her feet, she asked. “Where are we going?”

Daniel continued to stare straight in front of him. “To your room.”

The elevator stopped and opened into what Sally immediately recognized as a private hallway. Only one door was present. A strange sense of excitement flooded through her. Not that she wanted to share the same quarters with the infuriating lion. Well, okay, maybe she did. Just a little. But, she also knew she would feel safe and protected with him close by. She’d had nightmares since her mother had died that she and her brother would be attacked by shifters, torn apart, limb from limb. Her, because she was not as a shifter, and Nick because he could not control his animal.

Daniel pressed his thumb against a small black box and the doors opened to what she could only assume was Bachar’s suite. Her guess was confirmed when they walked inside. A glass wall made up the far side of the room and small floodlights placed strategically on the eves revealed the snowy wonderland outside. Small lights embedded in the hardwood floor near the entrance, guided them inside.

It was above and beyond anything Sally had expected. To the left of the room was a kitchen she was sure most gourmet chefs would envy. Next to that was a large living space with huge chocolate colored leather sofas and matching chairs. Everything was scaled to fit the massive size of shifters. For the first time in her life, Sally actually felt small in comparison.

To the right was a platform that contained a bedroom area bigger than some New York apartments. At each corner of the bed was a massive post from which a flowy, rust-colored piece of chiffon hung. It reminded her of a Sultan’s palace. She allowed a small smile to curve her lips. That was, no doubt, the look the lion shifter had been going for. He might protest his relation to the African lion, but he surely appreciated the decadence of their lifestyle. And his inbred arrogance could not be denied.

She frowned when she realized the bedroom was surrounded by huge, glass walls and wondered how many times someone had inadvertently walked into them. She also wondered why they were there. They served no purpose as far as she could tell.

“Allow me.” As if sensing her confusion, Daniel walked over to one and waved his hand across the glass, immediately, the glass changed, going from translucent to frosted in a matter of seconds. Daniel turned back to her with a knowing smile. “The Alpha likes his privacy.”

She felt a blush steal across her cheeks. No doubt the room was sound proof as well, she thought, a surge of what felt like jealousy rushing through her at the thought of Bachar on the bed with other females.

Daniel walked across the room and picked up a remote on the huge coffee table and clicked a button. Immediately, a fire sprung up in the river rock fireplace that dominated the back wall. It had been built to the side as to not interfere with the view from the glass wall. He then strode back to where she still stood in the doorway and laid her bag on a dark wooden table near the entry. “If the Alpha has not returned by dinner time, he has requested that you take your meal in your room.”

“Of course he has.”

Daniel’s voice and the conveyed message snapped Sally out of the stupor she’d seemed to have fallen into. How could she have expected less from such an arrogant man? She had to remind herself yet again that she needed that man and his arrogance to find her brother.

“Do you require anything else at this time?” Daniel stood patiently at the door waiting for her response.

Sally gave him her best smile, even if it was a tired one. “No. You have been more than helpful. But, if it’s not too much to ask, could you please tell me if you get any news of my brother before the alpha returns?”

Daniel bowed slightly. “Of course, dear. We are all praying for his safe return.”

Sally pondered that as she closed and locked the door behind him. While she might be in a hotel full of shifters—she was after all, in a hotel full of shifters and sometimes one couldn’t be overly cautious.