The Shifter's Dream

by R. A. Boyd

  Teague hadn’t even noticed his boner had left until it started swelling up again. Riley was going to make Aaron pay for whatever she’d found out, and for some reason that turned him on. She was bossy.

  “Oh, wow,” Cass said, pretending to be surprised. “You two are splitting up?”

  Riley took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair and fluffed it. He could smell the unease of talking about Aaron wafting from her. She didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Yeah. Eight years of my life waiting for him to be the man I thought I married down the toilet.” She shook her head and chewed on her bottom lip, and when she finally spoke her voice was strong. “No. Not a waste. I have Liv. I’d do it all again so long as I got to be that girl’s mom.”

  Teague swallowed a few times, trying to find the right thing to say to her. He could sense her heartache and frustration, but it was also mixed with relief. Human emotion was too easy to read. “If you need anything at all just let me know. I’d be happy to help. With your shop. Or whatever.”

  He smiled at her and thank God he still had his sunglasses on. He could feel his eyes changing. Besides, he loved just staring at her without her knowing. She’d probably think he was a creepy perv if she knew how often he just looked at her. He had memorized every inch of her body, knew she was right-handed but sometimes used her left just to see if she could do it just as efficiently as she did with her dominant hand.

  He’d watched her walk down the street, knew she never wore high heel shoes, but loved her sneakers and boots. She always had on shirts that represented a fandom she was interested in. He knew she talked to herself when she thought no one was paying attention to her.

  Teague would never touch her, if he could help it. Whatever that touch revealed would lead to his ruin.

  “Thanks, Teague,” Riley said as she looked up into his sunglasses. “That means a lot.”

  They stood there for a few moments, just watching each other. He could make out the swell of her breasts through the coat, the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. She was beautiful in the most simplest of ways. No make-up, yet her skin was smooth and flawless. Two dimples sat on each side of her cheeks and they almost connected when she smiled. A flat little mole was perfect right above the curve of her lips.

  She could have been a 1950’s pin-up girl. Lovely innocence, voluptuous body, perfect wind-tousled hair that framed her face. Riley was every wet dream he’d ever had.

  “Hey,” Cass said, breaking the spell between them. “Teague likes movies. Maybe you two could go catch a movie together.”

  Riley cracked out a single high-pitched laugh that surprised him. “Teague doesn’t want to hang out with me. I’m thirty-five, soon to be single, with severe trust issues, and am liable to blame every ounce of distrust I now have for other human beings on the next man I’m with. Teague is my friend, Cass. Besides,” she said, reaching out to touch his hand. “I like you too much to make you suffer through that.”

  Just as Riley’s hand was about to make contact with Teague’s, he shoved his fists into his pockets and leaned backward.

  He was scared. In all his years alive, there was only one thing he was scared of. One being. And that was the Creator, but for a split second as Riley’s beautiful fingers almost touched his, he felt fear. Fear of finding out, and fear of not knowing.

  Teague could see the shock on her face as he ran from her touch. Her eyebrows shot up and a thin line appeared on her forehead. He felt like shit. Absolute, useless, shit.

  He searched his head to find a way to comfort her. “I—I’ve been sick and I was rubbing my hand under my nose a minute ago. Don’t want you to get sick, too.”

  Lame. That may have been the lamest thing he’d ever said out of his mouth. And he just lied to her. How could he? But it was worth it. The discomfort and rejection that had been written on her face began to seep away, but it was replaced with something he couldn’t read.

  “You never get sick.” She smiled, quirking her lips up in the cutest possible way he’d ever seen. “Anyway, you should come to my shop, too. I could certainly use the business.”

  The cold wind wiped through the trees and sent her hair flying. Teague shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and fought the urge to pull the dark strands out of her eyes. Her nose was beginning to turn red, but she laughed against the wind and rubbed her nose.

  “I love the cold,” she said. “Liv and I got up this morning and made a snowman. I know she’s a teenager and they’re supposed to be moody, but she’s great. Does her homework, always respectful. She’s a joy.” She said it with an unabashed hint of pride.

  “What the hell, Dad?” that respectful, non-moody teenager belted out.

  Teague, Riley, and Cass turned to look at Liv as she screeched at her father.

  Olivia’s eyes were drawn down in a frown and her lip trembled as if she were holding back tears. She was shaking her head as she backed away from him, hands up in a motion that warded him off as he reached for her hand. “This has nothing to do with me. You just wanted Riley to drive me up here so you could see her, and do what? Convince her that you aren’t a lying sack of shit.”

  Riley blew out a breath and cursed under her breath. “Excuse me,” she said, apologizing to him and Cass. She walked toward Olivia and Aaron. “Language, young lady. What’s going on?”

  Aaron turned around and wore a mischievous grin on his face that looked as if he was trying to downplay getting fussed at by his daughter. “Nothing. It’s just a misunderstanding.”

  “Dad, you could have called to let me know that Riley didn’t have to drive me all the way out here in this icy mess. But you’d rather have her risk our lives on that windy road so you can stare at her ass and tell her that you’re sorry rather than just tell me over the phone that you’d changed your mind.”

  Teague and Cass looked on as Riley grabbed the girl’s hand to get her attention. “What’s happening?”

  Aaron shrugged and tsked his teeth with a regret so fake it made Teague hate him just a bit more. Even from so far away he could smell the lies creeping out of his skin.

  “Liv. I just remembered that I have to report to the Cumberland firehouse after this shift for overtime. Baby, I’m sorry. Come on, Riley, help me out. It was a mistake. Come here for a sec.” He held his hand up, beckoning Riley to come closer to him.

  Riley snorted a laugh and pushed Liv toward her car. “Aaron. It’s fine. I’ll take her home to my place and get her to school in the morning.” She put her hands on Liv’s shoulders and rubbed them. “Come on, kid. Get in the car.”

  “I need to go,” Cass said, whispering in Teague’s ear. “I may murder him if I stick around much longer. Eat your food.”

  He watched as Cass quickly walked back toward the woods in the direction of where they all lived. He could see the anger like a shimmering halo around her. She’d be fine. The seven mile walk in the two feet of snow in the woods would level her out.

  “Do not crowd me, Aaron,” Riley said, her voice shaking.

  Teague turned his attention back to Aaron and Riley. They were now on the other side of Aaron’s pick-up truck, and out of his daughter’s view. Aaron had Riley cornered between the truck and a row of trash cans, using his size to keep her from getting around him.

  “Just give me one more chance, Riley. I promise—”

  “How many chances do need?” she whisper-yelled. “Other than the three I already gave you, Aaron. I am fresh out of fucks when it comes to you. This divorce is happening in three days and no amount of pathetic apologies is going to change that. Stop using Liv to get close to me, and get the fuck out of my way.”

  Red. Teague saw red. He saw murder in shades of crimson, and watching Riley pretend not to be afraid made him crazy. The fear she felt snaked through the wind toward Teague and he almost choked on it.

  Her face was determined, but her eyes told a different story. She was afraid. Had Aaron every touched her in anger? Teague would jump rope
with his intestines if he ever found out he’d laid a hand on Riley.

  A snarl ripped its way up Teague’s throat, and he was standing behind them before he even thought to check if anyone had seen him move so fast. He grabbed Aaron by his arm and snatched him around to face him. “Don’t know what’s going on. Don’t care. Give her some room, and stop being a dick.”

  Vitriol pooled in Aaron’s eyes and he let off a pathetic human growl. He snatched his elbow out of Teague’s grasp and looked on in shock as Teague still held tight to his arm. When Teague was good and damned ready, he let go and took a step back from him. Aaron looked as if he was about to walk off, but as soon as Teague let him go Aaron turned around and shoved him as hard as he could.

  Still and unmovable as a fucking brick wall, Teague was unaffected by Aaron’s brief aggression and temper tantrum. He looked down at his shirt as if more concerned about the wrinkles that Aaron had put there.

  “The fuck?” Aaron said in disbelief.

  Aaron wasn’t a small man. He was tall, worked out often, and wore his shirt sleeves rolled up so the women in town could see his muscles. His shock was evident when his size couldn’t move Teague, who stood about four inches shorter than him.

  Teague pointed toward the doors of the fire station. “Don’t be a dick in front of your kid. Go on inside. I’ll watch them off.”

  He started to walk toward the door but then turned to face them. “Riley, I’m sorry. I just miss you so much.”

  Aaron disappeared into the station and left behind the stench of bullshit and lies.

  “Fuck. You,” Riley whispered under her breath. She ran her fingers through her coiled hair, fluffing it as she got closer to the back of her head. Teague registered it as a nervous tick. “Teague, I’m sorry you had to see that. But thanks for cutting in. He’s been weird lately. I don’t think he believed I would actually leave him. The dipshit.”

  She was shaking, and not from the cold. Her eyes were moist and he could hear her heart rate and breaths skip faster. Adrenaline. She was coming down from the dump of it into her system and she looked like she wanted to cry.

  Riley shook her head back and forth. Using her fingertips to wipe away the barely there tears, she said, “I can’t let Liv see me like this. She borderline hates Aaron. He may be a grotesque asshole but he is her father.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and leaned against the truck.

  If she didn’t stay upright Teague would be forced to grab her. He didn’t want to risk finding out if she was his, but he couldn’t let her fall. He’d never allow that.

  At the last moment, right before he thought he would have to steady her, she straightened herself out and stood up with her shoulders squared. “Fuck him,” she said, glancing at the door he’d gone in through. Riley looked at Teague and gave him an uncomfortable smile. “Again, I’m sorry.”

  He pushed his sunglasses up his nose. “It’s fine. I call him Ass-face. It’s his God-given name.”

  Riley erupted in a song of giggles, and all the unease that had seemed to settle in her shoulders just melted away. He’d done that. With just a few words of truth he’d made her laugh.

  “I fucking love that,” she said. “I’ve been calling him Hippotwattamus.”

  Teague belted out a quick laugh and stomped his foot on the salt covered sidewalk. This was the first honest laugh he’d had in months, and she was the reason.

  He gave her a genuine smile. “That’s even better than Ass-face.” He stepped out of her way so she could walk past him to her car. “Go on. Get home safe. It’ll get icier the later it gets.

  “Thanks, Teague. You’ve always been a really good friend to me.”

  That hurt. They’d been friends for years but every time he heard her say that about him it soured something in is stomach. “Yeah,” he said, gazing at her through the sunglasses. “You too.”

  She walked past him and headed to her car, but as she cleared the trashcans she slid on an icy patch on the ground. Riley yelped and looked like she was trying to grab on to anything in reaching distance to keep her from falling.

  Before he even knew what he was doing, Teague lunged forward and caught her by the sides of her jacket, steadying her on her feet.

  No. No, no, fucking no. Riley turned herself around and grabbed both of his hands. An electric zing shot up his arms and settled into the pit of his chest, and he fought himself to keep from calling out. His mate. His woman. His other half.

  For the first time in countless millennia, the beast inside him opened his eyes and scratched at Teague’s skin. He was on fire. His body burned.

  Teague looked down at her and into those beautiful brown eyes. She was magnificent. Lovelier than the skies he used to soar through when he had his wings. She held tight to his hands as he kept her from falling.

  He was the one that was falling. Standing still as her small hands covered his, he was falling even more so than he already had so many years ago when he’d first met her.

  He twitched his nose to push the glasses further up his face. “Are you okay?” he choked out.

  “Uh-huh,” she said, staring up into his face. “Umm, Teague?”

  He swallowed and held tight to her waist, loving that her skin was separated from his by only a few layers of fabric. “Yes.”

  Riley’s tongue glided over her lower lip and she looked around like she didn’t know where she was. “I’m sorry.”

  “For falling? You don’t—”

  The words hadn’t even had a chance to leave his lips before Riley snatched his sunglasses off his face and grabbed him by both ears. She pulled him toward her with a strength he’d never imagine coming from her short, voluptuous frame as she stood up on her toes.

  Riley pressed her soft body against his and kissed him with a passion that almost knocked him off his feet. He pulled her into his arms and brought her body even closer to his, reveling in the feel of her breasts pressed against his chest.

  Her mouth was hot, and her tongue danced with his as she let off little needy moans. He bet she would make those same sounds as he sank his cock deep inside her, over and over until his name was a prayer on her lips. She let go of his ears and ran her hands through his hair, down his arms, and around his waist. He put one hand behind her head and pulled her kiss tighter against his lips, and used his other hand to grab her by the ass and grind his hard cock against her.

  Riley’s hands moved over his body as if they were old lovers. She knew exactly where to touch him to make him not give a shit about which one of his coworkers came through the door to see them mouth-fucking here in the parking lot. Teague lifted her up against Aaron’s truck until she was eye level with him and his beast cheered as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  She moaned into his mouth and her arms were locked around his neck. She stroked her core against him, and he could sense her need for release. Riley wanted him to make her come right here in the lot.

  Fuck. Yeah.

  The sound of a car door opening broke their dirty little spell and Riley’s whole body jerked. “Shit. Put me down,” she said, moving against him as she scampered down his body.

  He carefully put her down, and as she leaned against the truck trying to straighten her hair and clothes, Liv crested the bumper of the truck.

  Teague and Riley moved uncomfortably as they tried to look normal, and when she looked up into his eyes she paused for a moment.

  “Teague. I’m so sorry I…”

  Like a bashful fool he looked everywhere but at her. He knew the color of his eyes were going crazy. She must not have noticed. She didn’t look terrified.

  “You— you don’t need to say sorry for that.”

  Hell, she could do that to him every day and he would thank her each and every time. She was aggressive. He loved it. Riley could do what she wanted to him. On him. In front of him. She was his, and he completely belonged to her.

  Fuck a duck, he was in trouble.

  “Teague,” Liv said as she walked up and t
ugged down Riley’s coat to cover a soft ribbon of her skin. “What the heck were you just doing to my mom?”

  As he started mumbling through a shitload of words that didn’t make sense, Riley gently slapped the girl’s hand away to stop her from straightening her clothes and said, “He didn’t do anything. We were just talking.”

  “And making out.” Liv smiled at the both of them.

  Riley made a weird snorting noise and started walking toward her truck. “Come on, Liv. You have homework to do.”

  Under the gaze of the fifteen-year old girl, Teague squirmed and felt like it was the most awkward situation he’d ever been in. Ever. She stared at him as Riley opened the door to her vehicle and got in to start it up.

  The girl took a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks. “You should go by her shop tomorrow. Buy a book. Drink some coffee. She’s installing some shelves in the bathrooms. You should go help.”

  Teague cleared his throat and shifted from one foot to the other. “I’ll do that.”

  “Okay,” she said. As she backed away from him, the wind whipped by and thrashed her hair into her face, making her look like a little, pale, red-headed pixie. She moved her hair behind her ear and her big green eyes gave him a look somewhere between amusement and caution. “She doesn’t notice but I watch you watch her. Hurt my mom and I’ll flatten your tires, sugar your gas tank, and piss in all your shoes. I’m capable of it. Just ask my dad.”

  Her words rang true. Even if they hadn’t he believed the little hellion was capable of it. She was as protective of her mother as Riley was to her. They were a good pair. Aaron had a world of pain headed in his direction if he tried to keep those two apart. And not just from him. No, Teague was sure Riley and Liv would bring down the wrath of Hell on his head, not to mention Cass toying with the idea of killing him.

  He nodded. “I will take that into consideration.”

  “Bye.”

  She turned, walked toward the truck, and sped off with Riley.

  Chapter 2

  Fuck. I molested the man, Riley thought to herself as she looked out the window of her shop. The thought of him pressing charges against her for molestation ran through her mind and she cringed. She’d climbed him like he was a sexy, bearded, tree and tried to grind herself to orgasm against his hard body.