Dark Panther (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance) Read Online Free Page B

that trip entirely. Who… then she realized.
    “It was a little boy,” she said. “A little boy with dark hair and these crazy blue…” she paused, looking into his eyes, and she added breathlessly, “eyes.”
    Logan nodded.
    “It was you!” she cried. “But how did you remember me?”
    “Your scent,” he said. “I could never forget that scent. The moment I first smelled you back then, I had this intense feeling that I’d known you all my life.”
    “I remember you found me crying and you took me by the hand and told me everything was going to be alright,” she said, her lip trembling. “You took me back to my parents and promised you’d never forget me.”
    “And I never did,” he said. “But you forgot me.”
    “No!” she gasped. “I didn’t really. I forgot the trip, but not you. I’ve always had this… emptiness inside me. I could never explain it. But you said when you smelled me you felt you’d known me all your life. I felt that, too! I didn’t smell you, of course. But when I looked into those blue eyes… I just knew.”
    The next moments were a blur. Her eyes closed the moment his warm lips touched hers. His breath was blazing hot on her face, a startling contrast to the morning air that had blushed her cheeks a rosy hue.
    His arms, strong yet gentle, wrapped her in a comf orting embrace. Her lips parted, allowing his tongue to mingle with hers. His kiss tasted like the forest, earthy and woody, with a hint of something primal, like the blood of his prey.
    For a moment, she thought of pulling away from him. She hadn’t had a shower, or washed her hair, or even brushed her teeth in far too long, but the passion in his kiss let her know he either didn’t notice her lack of hygiene or he didn’t care.
    His hand moved up to caress her cheek. Then he grabbed her face and pulled her closer to him, sliding his hand back to tangle his fingers in her hair. He gripped her hair so tightly it made her squeal with discomfort, yet it somehow excited her through its rough wildness. Her hands rested on his biceps.
    His lips left hers, kissing across her cheek to her ear. His breath in her ear sent shivers down her spine, and her fingernails dug into the flesh of his biceps in response.
    Logan nibbled his way down her neck, stopping to suck on the fleshy area where her shoulder met her neck. She released a little “mew” in response, and a low, guttural growl came from deep within his throat.
    Lucy grasped the bottom of his shirt and pulled. He lifted his arms and let her remove it, and she tossed it onto a nearby bush. Her eyes traveled down to his flesh, and her heart jumped at the sight of the many wounds that mottled his skin.
    Some were small, circular scars that were pale and appeared to be the size of a cigarette. Others were deep gashes or streaks in shades of blush and crimson. These looked like they could have come from a belt, a switch, or a whip. Her fingers brushed gingerly across one particularly nasty scar.
    She suddenly felt ashamed. For so many years she’d complained at every opportunity about her past and her treatment by her parents. She hadn’t stopped for a moment to think that someone else might have it worse than she.
    She had been starved, yes. She’d been slapped on occasion, and certainly called horrible names at every possible opportunity. And she’d been abandoned at an orphanage when she was young. But she’d never been through anything that left scars all over her body.
    Logan shied away from her touch as though he thought his scars hideous, but Lucy reached out and pulled him to her, resting her head on his shoulder and tracing the scars on his back with her fingers. His muscles tensed, and he flinched at her touch.
    “Stop it,” she whisp ered firmly. “You’re beautiful.”
    “I’m just not used to human touch,” he said. “I’ve been on my own for so very long.”
    Her lips touched against his shoulder, and he flinched again, but his muscles finally