Marisa Chenery: Forever Claimed

Nothing was left behind. Not even a scorch mark showed on the grass where the beast had fallen.

His prey no more, Algar shifted back to his human form. The bloody claw marks down the length of his arm instantly healed during the change. Willing his sword away, he walked out of the park.

He scanned the street in both directions, but he didn't see the woman. Reaching the spot on the sidewalk where he'd knocked her down, Algar latched onto her scent.

Following it, he soon found himself standing in front of a nearby hotel. He didn't think twice about it when he stepped through the entrance and into the lobby. Still able to pick out the woman's scent from the myriad of others inside the building, he traced it to one of the elevators.

Algar cursed under his breath. The only way he could pick up her scent trail from there would be for him to stop at each floor. He dismissed that idea. He now knew where she stayed. He'd return in the morning. Obviously a tourist on holiday, she would leave her room at some point. He would make sure he was in the lobby to meet her when she did.

Confident he would find her again, Algar left the hotel. The night was young and there was prey to hunt.

The next morning, Kamryn sat at the table inside her room looking over the local brochures she'd helped herself to from the lobby. Norwich Cathedral and Cow Tower, a couple of tourist spots, sounded nice, but she also planned to do some shopping.

Norwich boasted a large, six-days-a-week open-air market that had been founded by the Normans around 1071. There was also a mall. Mall Norwich had been built into the side of a hill with most of the structure concealed underground. The mall sported a rooftop public park, as well.

Kamryn studied the mall brochure more closely and decided she could handle shopping. Back home, she enjoyed window-shopping, even if she didn't buy anything.

She grabbed her purse, put the keycard to her room inside it and stepped out into the long hallway. Although it was already late morning, she would have the rest of the day to shop and grab some lunch while at the mall. Alone, and with no work schedule to worry about, she could take as much time as she pleased.

After a short elevator ride down, she exited into the lobby. Her steps faltered when she headed toward the entrance, and her gaze landed on a large man standing near the doors, staring directly at her. Kamryn swallowed, recognizing him as the man who'd knocked her down the night before. The one she thought she wouldn't see again.

He couldn't be waiting for me, could he? His being here had to be a coincidence. The night before, he'd been polite, but he hadn't asked her name. Plus, a man that gorgeous would already have a woman, not that Kamryn thought she would have a chance in hell with him if he happened to be single.

Deciding she would smile as she walked by, just in case he didn't remember her, Kamryn lengthened her stride. When she drew closer, she gave him a closed mouth smile, then fixed her gaze on the entrance doors. Much to her surprise, he fell in step beside her.

"Hi," he said. "Do you remember me? I'm the idiot who knocked you over last evening."

As if she'd forgotten him. She'd spent a good remainder of the night thinking of him, remembering what he looked like, the feel of her hand in his. "Hi. Yes. I remember you."

Once they hit the sidewalk, he took her elbow and pulled her to a stop. "Good. I wanted to apologize again since I had to run off."

Kamryn blinked up at him. He was so much taller she had to crane her neck to look him in the face. "It's all right. How did you know where to find me?"

He gave her a sexy grin that about turned her insides to mush. "A good guess?

By your accent, I figured you had to be American. So I took the chance on you staying at the closest hotel to the park."

"You were going to hang around in the lobby all day and wait and see if I showed up? What would you have done if I wasn't staying here? I may be American, but who is to say I couldn't have recently immigrated to England."

He shrugged. "Basically that was the plan, but since I found you the rest doesn't matter. I had a good hunch you would be here." He smiled again.

Kamryn melted a little more. Having a gorgeous hunk of a man willing to go to such lengths to find her gave a huge boost to her ego. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Kamryn Martin."

He enveloped her hand in his much larger one, holding it tighter than seemed necessary. "Nice to meet you, Kamryn. I'm Algar."

Even his name was sexy. When he didn't release her hand and the silence stretched between them, Kamryn grew nervous. She wasn't known for being confident when talking to men, especially ones she found attractive. Inside her head, she could come up with intelligent conversation readily enough, but when the time came for her to speak, she ended up stammering like a ninny.

Algar gave her another bone-melting smile. "So where are you heading off to?"

"I'm," she croaked, then cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm going to Norwich Mall."

"How are you getting there?" Algar leaned closer.

"I'm taking the bus." Kamryn found her gaze drawn to Algar's mouth. If he leaned in a little more while she went up on her tiptoes, she could kiss those lips.

"I can take you there. Better yet, to make up for last evening, I'll join you."

"You will?" Kamryn asked breathily.

"If you don't mind. It will give me a chance to get to know you better. Unless you don't wish to spend time with me."

Kamryn shook her head. "No . . . yes. I mean, I don't mind, and yes, it wouldn't bother me to spend time with you."

"Good." Algar let go of her hand and placed his on the small of her back as he guided her down the sidewalk. "My car is over here."

When they reached a flashy silver Jaguar and Algar opened the passenger side, Kamryn crawled inside. The interior of the car was as luxurious as the outside.

Whatever Algar did for a living, obviously, he wasn't hurting for cash. Kamryn had never been this close to a Jaguar, let alone about to ride in one. Once Algar slid into the driver's seat and the engine roared to life, he put it in gear and pulled away from the curb. Regarding his handsome profile, she couldn't help thinking her British holiday just got a little better.

Algar snuck a sideways glance at Kamryn while he drove toward the mall. She was even prettier than he'd remembered. He couldn't believe how lucky he'd been. He'd expected to be standing in the hotel lobby for a lot longer than he had before spotting her. He'd only been there an hour.

Hoping to get the conversation going again, he asked, "What part of the States are you from?"

Kamryn turned her head toward him. "Niagara Falls, New York."

He smiled. "The honeymoon capital of the world."

"Yes, and something I have a close, personal experience with."

Algar unconsciously gripped the steering wheel harder. "You're married?"

Kamryn chuckled. "No. I didn't mean it that way. I work as an assistant to a wedding planner. I deal with weddings and honeymoons on a regular basis."

"Oh." His death grip on the wheel relaxed. The thought of Kamryn being married or having been married made his wolf growl possessively. "I guess you get to make that special day something to remember for a lot of couples."

"Yeah, you could say that."

Algar shot her another look before he focused back on the road. "You don't like what you do?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kamryn shrug. "It isn't that I hate my job, it's just I don't enjoy it as much as I did at one time."

"Why not?"

"It's a stupid reason."

"You can tell me."

"It's really stupid. And you being a guy, you'll probably laugh."