Billionaires and Bodybags

by Keira Blackwood

  Kelly and Marla linked arms, then sat on the lowest step of the basement stairs, watching me douse the flames.

  “That’s rather symbolic, isn’t it,” Kelly said, motioning to the white spray I aimed all over the room. “Your muscular mate shooting loads of white stuff all over the place.”

  Marla giggled. I sent her what I hoped was a sexy grin. It seemed to work, because the laugh died on her lips and her eyes grew wide as she eyed me up and down.

  Oh yeah, I was naked after shifting.

  My shirt was in tatters, unwearable, but my jeans only sported a rip down one thigh—they’d mostly cover my important parts. I slid them on and went to Marla’s side. She’d lost a good chunk of hair to the fire, and her cheek and shoulder sported blisters, but the blisters were already healing. I would let her drink from me later.

  “Your hair,” Kelly said in a sad voice, pointing at Marla.

  “Oh, I’ve always wanted to cut it,” Marla said. “Perfect excuse.”

  The three of us looked at each other, and His Lordship twined around my ankles. Apparently we were friends now.

  “Well done with the whole saving Marla thing,” Kelly said, shaking my hand.

  “Thanks,” I said. “You, too.”

  “I still think shifters are awful,” Kelly said, frowning at me. “But you get a pass, I suppose.”

  “We should get out of here before the fire department comes down,” I said, then I looked at the pile of vampiric ash. “What about that, though?”

  “It just looks like ash,” Marla said. “I think we can leave it.”

  Kelly nodded her approval, so the three of us hurried upstairs, leaving the nightmare behind.

  “The Collector isn’t going to give up, is he?” Marla asked Kelly.

  “No, he isn’t,” Kelly said. “But it’ll take him some time to regroup and come up with a new plan. We’re safe...for now.”

  We made our way out of the back of The Watering Hole just as fire fighters were moving in through the front. A guy in full gear waved to me, and I recognized Grant Everton through the mask. He was another shifter I’d met at summer camp with Declan. I didn’t have to explain anything, including my lack of a shirt, and he just waved us out.

  We made our way through the alley and to the street, keeping Marla’s ruined hair toward me at all times so as not to attract attention. Her burns were already healed.

  “Grayson!” a man called.

  Down a side street, Declan and Daphne were climbing out of a car. Daphne was holding what looked like a flame thrower.

  “Um, we don’t need more flames,” Marla said, pointing to her hair.

  “Oh my gosh,” Daphne said. She put the flame thrower back in the car and rushed forward. “I can fix this up fast, don’t worry.”

  “Looks like we missed all the fun,” Declan said. “I thought you needed our help.”

  “You can help us gather the plush animals in the forest,” Marla suggested.

  He raised his eyebrows, but his green eyes were bright with amusement. “Sure, why the hell not.”

  “Some of them might need to be sewn up, too.”

  “Ooh, I can help with that,” Daphne said.

  The five of us piled into Declan’s car, with Daphne and Kelly fussing over Marla’s hair, and Marla and I holding hands. We were safe for now, and Operation Plush Retrieval, as Daphne was calling it, was about to begin.

  Life was good in Forbidden. I definitely wanted to stick around.

  Epilogue

  Marla

  Grayson and Declan carried the last two boxes upstairs. It was the quickest moving experience in the history of moving experiences. Between Grayson, Declan, and Declan’s brother Brody, the shifter men had all of Grayson’s things out of the truck and deposited in Grayson’s and my soon-to-be remodeled apartment in no time. Kelly insisted on helping, mostly so she could pretend she was going to drop Grayson’s things down the stairs.

  That left Pearl, Cordelia, Daphne, and me to set up a couple of snacks and a mountain of wine coolers for everyone after. It was a move-in-slash-victory-slash-tattoo party, and I offered free ink to anyone who wanted some.

  “You don’t think I know how to handle myself?” Kelly needled Grayson with her elbow as the pair walked back down the steps.

  He shot her a wry smile and shook his head. “I’m sure you can handle the gun just fine. It doesn’t mean I trust you not to scrawl ‘douchecanoe’ across my shoulders while I’m not looking.”

  He looked across the room at me, eyes sparkling. For a moment, it was like only the two of us were in the room. I loved that. I also loved the sibling-like teasing that Grayson and Kelly were developing. It wasn’t scorn anymore. The two had clearly bonded during their time trying to rescue me. Neither had talked about what specifically had happened. Maybe they hit each other until they decided to be friends. Maybe it was better they didn’t tell me. Whatever caused the change, I was glad for it.

  Kelly let out a dark chuckle. “Douchecanoe would be perfect. I was going to go with a picture of that weird turd plush you love so much. Now you need both.”

  Grayson strode over to me, and put his hand on my hip. It was such a simple gesture, yet it felt like a quiet claim. Mine. At the thought, warmth spread from his fingertips across my skin.

  Needing some distraction from my sudden desire to tear off all his clothes, I grabbed a wine cooler, popped off the cap and offered one to Daphne.

  She shook her head no, and a flush of red crept up her cheeks. “I can’t.”

  “No pressure,” I told her, but the smile on her lips said her reason for refusal wasn’t a bad or awkward thing. I gave her a curious look.

  Declan joined us and gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head before spreading his palm across her stomach.

  “We’re having a baby,” Daphne said, then burst out in an excited giggle.

  Congratulations came from all around the room. Everyone crowded them to hug Daphne and shake Declan’s hand. Grayson, Kelly, and I hung back and raised a toast to them.

  “Brody’s a great name,” Brody told Daphne.

  “No,” Declan said.

  “And if it’s a girl,” Brody said, “Brodiffer.”

  “Brodiffer?” Daphne laughed.

  “No,” Declan said again.

  “It has a nice ring to it,” Pearl said.

  “Maybe for your baby,” Declan said.

  Pearl shook her head emphatically. “Nope. No way. Not any time soon. We’re taking our sweet time in the honeymoon phase. Which reminds me, we should really get going.”

  The two were taking an extended vacation after getting married. They’d decided to wait until everything was in order for Pearl’s business. The truth was that Cordelia seemed to have everything under control. There was nothing for Pearl to worry about.

  “Have a great trip,” Cordelia said.

  “You’ll call if you need anything, right?” Pearl asked.

  Cordelia nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

  “You’ll call,” Pearl said.

  “Nope.” Brody picked up his mate and threw her over his shoulder like a caveman.

  Pearl squealed and then laughed.

  “I’m going to keep you too busy to think about anything but you and me,” Brody told her.

  I could feel Grayson’s gaze on me, his thumb stroking softly over my hip. I leaned into him and said goodbye to Pearl and Brody as they headed out.

  Cordelia was still and quiet as she watched them go. Then as soon as the door clicked shut, she turned to Kelly with a grin that spread from ear to ear.

  “Revenge will be sweet,” Cordelia said.

  “What?” Kelly gave her a strange look.

  “I put stink charms in his luggage and his truck.”

  “Oh that’s cruel,” Kelly said. “I think you and I are going to be the best of friends.”

  The two laughed and grabbed another round of drinks.

  Kelly froze with her glass halfway to her mouth and held up
her index finger. Grayson gave her a puzzled look until Kelly finally shouted, “Anagram!”

  “What now?” Cordelia asked.

  Grayson started laughing.

  “Marla and alarm are an anagram,” Kelly announced, looking as satisfied as if she’d procured a willing stable of blood donors.

  For the next half hour, we talked about different anagrams, trying to form them with our names. There weren’t any good ones for Grayson, Daphne, or Kelly, but Declan had both candle and lanced. Cordelia’s name could be turned into die Carol, which didn’t delight anyone.

  Eventually, Daphne stood up and said, “We should get going. I’m feeling a bit barfy.”

  “Aww, I’m sorry to hear that,” I told her.

  “Raincheck on the tattoo though,” she told me.

  I nodded and we said our goodbyes.

  I didn’t think Cordelia would want a tattoo, given how self-conscious she’d seemed about the one on her chest, but she let Kelly put a heart on her wrist. Just as the last curve of the heart was inked, Kelly burst into song.

  It wasn’t just any song, it was “Love Potion No. 9,” with her eyes rolled back and the swaying dance she couldn’t control whenever a vision struck.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Cordelia backed far enough from Kelly that she wouldn’t get hit in the face. “This isn’t like any kind of possession I’ve seen before.”

  “She’ll be okay,” I said. “She sees things. This is her gift.”

  Or curse, depending on how you looked at it.

  Kelly slumped onto the chair, and her red hair fell down over her face.

  I hurried over to her and took her hand. “Tell me,” I said.

  “Fuck.” Kelly whispered. Then she shot up. “Fuck, fuck fuck.”

  “What’s wrong?” Grayson asked.

  “Nothing,” she said, pacing. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Kelly?” I grabbed her shoulders stilling her.

  “Xavier,” she said.

  Xavier was her ex, the hot-as-sin shifter ex who had wrecked her and turned her against all shifter men, and men in general.

  “He’s coming,” she said.

  She was going to run. She’d once told me she could never see him again. But we were taking a stand here. If she left, we’d be alone to face the next minion our sire sent after us.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked her.

  “Drinks.” She looked to Cordelia. “We’re going to get drunk. I’m not leaving. I’m not running. But I need vodka, stat.”

  Cordelia shrugged. “I’m game.”

  After the two of them left, the air changed. It felt charged, expectant like it always felt when the two of us were alone. It was like we were right back in the alley behind the bar that first night, both of us with wicked intentions, both of us predators trying to predict who would make the first move.

  Slow and deliberate, Grayson lifted the hem of his shirt, revealing two delicious abs at a time. His gaze darkened as he watched me watching him. His nostrils flared in that hot AF way they did when he was clearly scenting my desire.

  He tossed his shirt aside and straddled one of the chairs, never taking his eyes off of me.

  “I heard this was a tattoo party,” he said. “I haven’t had my ink cherry popped.”

  “Lucky me,” I said, slipping between his legs onto the chair with him.

  I ran a hand over his chest. His muscles flexed under my touch.

  “I’m notorious for my expertise in these parts.”

  “Notorious?” He raised a brow and flashed me that GQ grin that I’d hated so much when I’d first seen him. It was perfect, too perfect—or so I’d thought. Funny how what I’d hated most about it was part of what I loved about him now. I saw the chip in one of his canines, and the way he never quite showed all of his teeth, like he was holding back a secret every time he grinned.

  “Yeah,” I told him.

  “You make it sound like you’re an outlaw in the Wild West,” he teased.

  I put on gloves, set up my supplies, and moved in closer so our hips were only inches apart.

  “Aren’t I?” I waggled a brow.

  He laughed, but cut it short as soon as I touched him with the cool alcohol wipe. His already dark eyes burned with darker heat.

  “You need something here,” I told him, running the wipe across his pec and up over his shoulder.

  Even while my eyes were on my task, I could feel him watching. If I could breathe, my breath would be hitched, being so close, feeling the warmth of him. If my heart beat, it would be fluttering.

  “What do you have in mind?” he asked.

  “I think I’ll draw that turd from the coffee shop,” I teased.

  “You’ve been spending too much time with your sister,” he chuckled. “And you, my mate, will be the one who has to look at it.”

  I set up my tattoo gun and placed the needle against his skin. “Ready?” I asked, without telling him what I really had planned.

  He put his arm around me, resting his hand on my lower back. Heat radiated out through his fingers, straight to my core. This was already the hottest thing ever, and we had barely touched.

  “Ready,” he told me.

  I knew in my heart the design that should go over his heart—I would ink an image of the fiercely protective, devastatingly beautiful wolf that was as much a part of him as the devastatingly beautiful man before me. I started with black and worked in a forested scene. The buzzing sound of the gun was hypnotic, as was the ink forming into his skin.

  Grayson kept his eyes on me, and when I looked up to see if I could tell what he was thinking, his eyes said everything. He was madly, completely in love with me. So much so that he really didn’t care what I was putting on him, because it was a gift from me. No matter what I drew, he’d love it.

  “One week until I get to meet your nephew,” I told him. “I bet he’ll be excited about all the gifts you’ve collected for him.”

  And even more grateful that Daphne had been able to sew up the ones that needed a little TLC.

  “I can’t wait for Baylor to meet you,” Grayson said.

  I grinned from ear to ear.

  “You have the best smile,” he told me.

  I shrugged and put down my tattoo gun. “Yours isn’t so bad either.”

  “You think?” He kissed me, and pulled me closer.

  He felt so good, so right, so mine.

  “Wait.” I cleaned and covered his new ink, using a see-through wrap so he could look at it. I grabbed the little mirror for him to check it out. I gave him a moment and then asked, “So? What do you think?”

  “It’s perfect,” he said, and kissed me. “You’re perfect.”

  I kissed him back, wanting to feel just like this every day for the rest of our life together. And we could, because we were mates.

  Read Kelly and Xavier’s story in Exes and Exorcisms! Find it at your favorite retailer: https://books2read.com/exes-and-exorcisms

  The Forbidden Series

  It’s always better when it’s forbidden—read the entire Forbidden series!

  * * *

  Forbidden Shifters

  Claimed in Forbidden

  Fated in Forbidden

  Bound to Forbidden

  Caught in Forbidden

  Mated in Forbidden

  Forever in Forbidden

  Destined in Forbidden

  * * *

  Forbidden Fangs

  Billionaires and Bodybags

  Exes and Exorcisms

  * * *

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  About Keira and Liza

  Sassy. Snarky. Supernaturally Sparkly.

  Keyboard ninja, late-blooming bibliophile, proud geek, animal lover, eternal optimist, visual artist.

  USA Today Bestselling Author Keira Blackwood writes exciting paranormal romance with all the snort
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  Liza likes her heroes packing muscles and her heroines packing agency. She got her start in romance by sneak-reading her grandma's paperbacks. Now she’s a USA Today bestselling author and she spends her time writing about hot shifters with fierce hearts.

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