His Purrfect Mate by Aliyah Burke Read Free Book Online Page B

the items crammed
inside.
    “ Everything in?” Dane
asked.
    “ I hope so,” she replied
with a chuckle. “Not much room left.” She snapped her fingers.
“I’ll be right back.”
    “ What’d we forget?” he
questioned when she returned.
    “ I needed more rounds.”
Aida waved the box of bullets at him. Opening her door, she put two
fingers in her mouth and released a piercing whistle. Ruger and
Kamau came running and jumped up into the seat. “Get in the back,
boys.” Once they had, she looked at her handsome traveling
companion. “Let’s get going then.”
    Driving along, Aida couldn’t help sneaking
glances at the man with her. Dark, brooding, undeniably sexy. Yet
she sensed gentleness in him. He cared about children and had
volunteered to help her. He had a deeply hidden sense of humor and
even more sex appeal. And still, there was this wildness about him
she didn’t understand.
    “ Something on your mind,
Aida?” he asked in a low, intimate voice.
    His tone brought to mind
many, many erotic
thoughts. Not to mention part of her dream. Shifting on the seat,
she looked directly at him. “No, why?”
    “ You keep looking at me.
Thought maybe you had a question.” He stared candidly at her when
he spoke.
    Fighting her embarrassment at being so
obvious, Aida shrugged. “Nope. No question.”
    A husky chuckle left him. “Well, I have
one.”
    Tucking some wayward bits
of hair behind her ear, she smiled. “My life’s an open book. Ask
away.” Well, most of it
is .
    “ Why are you out here,
doing what you do?”
    “ Besides the fact I like
helping people?”
    “ Yes. Besides that. Why do
you live here alone?”
    “ I was born in that house.
When I graduated college, my parents gave it to me. I’m not a huge
fan of the United States so it was easy for me to move back here.”
Aida scratched her cheek, hiding her reaction to thoughts best left
in the past. “I love it here.”
    “ I can see that,” he said
with a nod.
    She put her eyes back on the road after a
brief glance at him and focused as best she could on the road
only.
    “ Are we taking a different
way?” he asked.
    “ Different? Oh no…well,
yes but only because there’s another village up here that I’m
stopping at.” She paused. “Don’t worry; I’ll have you back on
time.”
    “ I’m not in a
rush.”
    Cutting her gaze toward him, Aida focused on
the golden hue of his skin. He had such strong hands and the leg
they rested on rippled with power. She swallowed back her moan of
appreciation.
    “ It won’t be long before
we’re at the first village.” She gestured to the glove box. “I
don’t know if you’d like music or not, but my iPod’s in there.
There’s a bunch of music styles on it.”
    He leaned forward, pressed a button, and the
cab was filled with Van Halen. Aida smiled and pressed down on the
accelerator. They made it safely to the village by early evening.
Standing with a friend, Aida watched Dane as he secured the tarp
covering the remaining items. Almost like he felt her watching him,
Dane lifted his head and stared at her. Those tawny-gold-green eyes
captured her and held her hostage.
    With hugs and farewells, they headed out
again.
    “ Now to the other one?” he
asked over the music.
    “ There’s a small town
coming up. I need to fill up, and then grab some things for dinner.
Then we press on.”
    The town came into view shortly, and she
pulled into the only petrol station. Shutting off the vehicle, she
jumped out and rolled her shoulders and neck.
    “ Hey, Aida!” an older man
hollered.
    “ Sam,” she said with
affection. “Great to see you.” Heading around for the tank, Aida
pulled up short at the sight of Dane standing there.
    “ I got this,” he
said.
    “ Okay. Do you want
anything specific?”
    Heat flared in his eyes before he tamped it
down. “Whatever works for me.”
    She went inside the small store and grabbed
another jug of water for the dogs, along with some for her and
Dane.