Southern Shifters

by Dee Carney

  Murphy shook from the urge to grab Sable, bend her over the bed, and thrust inside her until she screamed. His cock had been hard from the moment she’d crossed the threshold, the scent of her wrapping around him until it invaded his every sense. He could practically taste her lips, knowing the real thing was that much sweeter.

  Having her inside his bedroom brought home every instinct to keep her there. She belonged here, in their home. Although his mouth lied, telling her he couldn’t protect her from the wrath of their clan, his heart and bear disagreed. They would do whatever it took to keep their woman safe.

  “Do you understand at all what I am?” he grated out.

  “Not a clue because you haven’t talked to me about you at all, but I’m willing to take my chances. I’d much prefer a predator like myself, but I could deal with a were-armadillo if I had to.”

  Murphy barked out a laugh, startled by her statement. “I’m not a fucking armadillo.”

  Sable smiled, the sight making his heart trip. She shrugged afterward, her lips quirking to the side. “Raccoon?”

  “I’m a hybrid, it’s why I live here.” The urge to tell her about the tiger and bear in his blood teetered on the edge of his tongue. Both predators, he never felt more secure about being able to protect her than now when acknowledged his heritage, if only mentally.

  His parents were solitary creatures. They left each other time and again, only to come back to each other like moths drawn to a single flame. They loved each other with a passion he’d never before seen, but they didn’t know how to live together. They certainly had no idea what to do with the son they’d conceived by accident. As a result, Murphy had been often left to fend for himself, his relatives impossibly more distant than his parents.

  It embarrassed him to even think about telling her all this.

  “Time to get dressed,” he said. To distract them both from the vein of conversation, he dropped to his knees. After snagging the shorts he’d thrown down in a tantrum, he held open the waistband so she could step into them. It wasn’t until she’d come closer and slid one leg through the opening, that he glanced up and realized his mistake.

  He didn’t have a pair of woman’s panties available and Sable wore nothing beneath the t-shirt. Not one blessed thing. When she approached, his head only inches from her belly, he was given a perfect view of her sweet, pink pussy.

  His mouth watered.

  She stepped into the other leg and Murphy had to bite back a groan. That scent. That incredible scent of woman and sex and desire. Her pheromones were off the chart. Her body was begging for a man to claim her. If they weren’t careful, she’d attract someone with less integrity than Murphy. Did he really dare send her out into the neutral zone like this?

  He watched her slide the material of the too big shorts up over her thighs and then fasten the button at her waist. He tried to drag his gaze away from the gap left by the unclosed zipper, but when her slender fingers grazed next to the dark tuft of hair to get to the metal tab, Murphy leaned so close he almost unbalanced. Inside his head, a voice begged her not to complete the task, the noise shrieking louder and louder until the zipper was up all the way. Damn it.

  “You know,” she said, pulling his attention away from her crotch, “I bet there’s a task or two around here that you could use help with. Something I’m probably good at.”

  He doubted it. And the only thing he could think of right now that did fit the bill waved a red flag at him. “Did you have something particular in mind?” The words almost lodged, the pulse of his cock matching the pulse jumping in his throat and making it difficult to speak.

  “I don’t know…I could clean out the gutters, maybe.”

  “I have a feeling you’d fall off the ladder.” He reached for the sneakers and handed them to her.

  Sable sat on the floor and unknotted the laces. “That’s a very unfeminist thing for you to say.”

  “Am I right?”

  She grinned, her gaze pointedly kept on her feet. “Maybe.”

  He loved the idea of having her around, more than he should. But he had to keep her family in mind. He couldn’t forget the clan war they’d be starting by continuing a torrid love affair. They’d never forget the derailed plans for her.

  Rising, Murphy held out a hand. This was for her own good. “Let’s go, minx. You need to get away from me and to someplace where your family won’t find you right away. Maybe we can solicit some help from some of the locals.”

  Her hand in his shouldn’t have felt so damned good.

  “You’re making a mistake,” she said softly.

  “Possibly, but you’ll thank me a few years from now when you’re settled down with someone who’s good for you.”

  Fuck, he hoped that was right. For both their sakes. Regardless, he had to take her out of here. Without saying anything further, he reluctantly released her hand and strode away from the bedroom. For a brief moment, he wondered if she would follow and exhaled a stale breath when at last he heard movement behind him.

  On the way out, he snagged the keys to his old Chevy. Neither of them spoke while thoughts about doing the right thing churned in his mind. Sable seemed to need her attention on navigating the path in sneakers that were too big. Once he dropped her off, maybe one of the other towniescould provide something with a better fit.

  She seemed on the verge of another protest when they stood at the passenger door, but once he opened it for her, she slid inside without another word. He could feel the disappointment surrounding her though.

  Maybe…

  Maybe on the drive over, they could talk. And maybe he could find a way to keep in touch with her.

  Maybe they could find a way. Maybe.

  Chapter Six

  Sable knew this was wrong and couldn’t think of a single damned way to stop it.

  Sitting in his classic car should have felt cozy, the pine smell from the hanging tree on the mirror a throwback to her parent’s era, yet seemed to fit Murphy. She refused to watch him round on the car, instead keeping her focus on the front of the house that had signaled sanctuary to her only a couple hours ago. When her eyes began to well though, she dropped her gaze to her hands.

  Murphy lowered himself into the driver’s seat a moment later, and although she didn’t look at him, could almost feel him tense up as if ready to say something. He gave a brief shake of his head instead of speaking, his decision apparently final.

  Her heartrate seemed to accelerate as he pushed the key into the ignition. Before he turned the key, her mouth fell open to beg him to stop and reconsider. No sound came though.

  No sound from Sable. None from the car, but a muted click.

  “What the hell?” Murphy muttered.

  Sable’s gaze shot to the ignition as he turned the key again, the same bored click the only result. “Battery?”

  He frowned. “Shouldn’t be.” A quick push of the power button on the radio before his hand went to a knob behind the steering wheel. “Lights were off. Radio not coming on. It might be the battery, but it’s weird that I had no warning.”

  “Pop the hood.” She pushed open the passenger side door.

  “What?”

  Ducking back, amused at the confusion on his face, she pointed to the front of the car. “Pop it and I’ll take a look. Might be the battery, but it could be the alternator. If you have any luck at all, it’s just a loose wire.”

  His mouth fell open, but Murphy did as requested. The spring pinged by the time she got in front of the car. Lifting the hood, Sable called out, “Got any tools handy? A flat head would be great.”

  “You’re kidding me, right?” Murphy was already standing next to her by the time she reviewed the battery leads for corrosion.

  “What?”

  “I’m really not trying to come off as sexist or anything, but are you seriously going to tell me that you know something about cars?”

  “Not just something,” Sable said while wiggling the same leads. “I know a lot about c
ars. I told you, my brothers are super protective and rarely left me alone. That meant whatever interested them became a part of my interests whether I liked it or not. Old cars happen to be the thing my oldest brother Cage couldn’t get enough of. I can’t take one apart and put it back together the way he can, but I know how to troubleshoot.”

  Murphy smiled, his arms folding across his chest. “That’s damned impressive.”

  “I told you there had to be something I could do around here for room and board.” Well, that didn’t involve getting naked. Although that still wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

  “What have I gotten myself into with you?” he murmured. “I’ll be right back. Let me go get that screwdriver you asked for. Anything else?”

  “Bring what you have, I guess.”

  “Done.” He turned to leave, seemed to think better of it, and added, “It’s not that I want you to go. It’s what’s best for you. I hope you understand that.”

  Stunned, Sable lost her ability to respond and could only watch him walk away.

  His gentle tone, the way he studied her with those pretty brown eyes, she knew he really felt that way. Despite the raging lust between them, and the draw of their natures, he would give up his mate because he wasn’t what was best for her.

  Which was complete and utter horse shit, but she’d tackle that in a minute.

  For now, she had to figure out the issue with his car. Nothing she’d fix too quickly, just in case she could insert a bonding moment or two with her mate, but she would like to do this for him. Regardless of how this all turned out, he’d provided shelter when she needed it. Her feet were mostly healed, and for the foreseeable future, she wasn’t being forced to walk around buck naked in the woods.

  Her brothers had left her alone temporarily and Murphy was trying to get her away so that she couldn’t be found right away. He did all of these things without asking for anything in return, and if anything, got her rocks off as icing on the cake. The added bonus of her mating cycle dialing it back a notch was an unexpected surprise.

  She wanted to explore more with him. Damn if she would let him ship her off to someone else without a fight. Determined to come up with a plan for staying, she went back to work on the car.

  By the time Murphy returned with a bright orange toolbox in hand, she’d narrowed down the problem with his car to the alternator. “I thought you’d gotten lost that took you so long,” she said with a smile as he approached. “The bad news is that I’m pretty certain we’re not going anywhere without a jump, and even then, if this battery isn’t new, it’s not likely to hold the charge long enough to get us someplace.”

  Murphy held out a zip top bag. “While inside, it dawned on me that I never offered you anything to eat or drink. Brought you a ham and cheese. Bottle of water.”

  The sandwich tasted like heaven and she studied him back as she ate. He brought out a second bag for himself and the two of them leaned against the car as they scarfed down the food.

  “Murphy?” she asked after half of her sandwich was gone.

  “Yeah?”

  “Does this count as our first date?”

  He stiffened, then took a deep breath. When he cut his eyes to her, they were filled to the brim with amusement. “You know,” he said after a healthy bite and swallow, “I believe it does.”

  Murphy did not want to like her. He didn’t. But watching Sable, who bent over the engine of his car, muttering to herself as she disassembled the alternator, grudging admiration for her settled in to stay. Had it been a short while ago when he’d been calling her “timid”? She’d been anything but since he’d met her.

  She’d eaten the simple sandwich like she hadn’t seen food in a week, which made him feel like an ass. She’d run away from her people, intent on finding something better for herself than the careful life they’d picked out for her. No plan, no money, no supplies. When he’d left home, as miserable as it had been there, it wasn’t until he’d saved a decent amount of money, scoped out his future home, and planned on how to make a living.

  Sable had been braver than he’d been. Naive, maybe. But she had guts.

  He’d come to Deal’s Gap and hidden. Nice solitary life. No one around to question his choices or influence his decisions. Not until she’d shown up and dragged in family drama. Thing was, the confrontation with her brother left him a little recharged. He hadn’t postured before anyone in a long time and his bear had loved it.

  From his view on the porch, he got to skim over the length of her legs in those ridiculous shorts. Booty shorts on her. With the way she tip-toed to peer into the engine compartment, he could admire the curve of her upper thighs. A head tilt afforded him a healthy glimpse inside the shorts to the curve of a glorious ass.

  Why exactly was he pushing her away again?

  He put his nose in the air, and over the scent of engine grease and earth, he caught the erotic trail of her pheromones. She wouldn’t have any idea of what kind of beacon she put out for males to track down, but it called to Murphy in the most wicked of ways.

  He tried to think through again why he considered claiming his mate a bad idea and damn if he could think of another one now. Something about her family… But what couple didn’t have issues with the in-laws from time to time? Eventually, they’d learn to accept him, right?

  “Are you looking at my ass?”

  Murphy’s head snapped up, his thought bubble bursting. “What? No…what?”

  She shot him a smile that went straight to his heart, an electric bolt that made him sit up straighter and recognize her as an incredibly gorgeous woman waiting on him to make a move. “Yes, you were,” she said with a slyness that gripped his heart even harder. “Get a good look while you can.”

  While he could. He’d been so insistent on sending her away. His mate.

  What kind of idiot pushed away the woman he’d been destined to love?

  “You know,” she said, ducking her head beneath the hood again, “for a guy who was pretty certain a pretty girl couldn’t do much more than be a bother, you’re sure looking comfortable over there sipping on that beer.”

  Murphy glanced at the bottle of water in hand. “This isn’t—”

  “I know, but it might as well be. I mean, only thing would make it worse is if you were supervising and telling me how to do it better.” Gentle laughter.

  “I’m enjoying the view the way it is and I’m not so stupid as to tell a beautiful woman how to do something I don’t know how to do anyway.” His gaze made a slow ascent from those too-big shoes, up her toned legs and thighs, before traveling further until it met her mischievous blue eyes.

  “You’re making me feel like one of the pin-up girls on my brother’s garage wall.”

  Hell, there was no good way to respond to that, so Murphy kept his mouth shut. No matter how much he would have loved to have a picture of her, bikini-clad, and draped over the hood of a muscle car.

  Sable wiped an arm across her brow before cocking her head at him. “You are thinking naughty thoughts over there, Mister. Or am I responsible for planting one?”

  Murphy lifted a shoulder.

  Her eyes narrowed and after a pause, she turned to face him. Sable dropped the tools onto the ground, not casting a single look in their direction. Her hands went to the front of her shirt where she pulled it out and did some sort of twisting thing. The final result was a bikini-like top that almost made him swallow his tongue.

  Dear heaven he loved the curves on her body.

  Fresh out of a shift, she’d been easy to ignore, just like any other female shifter around. Societal rules dictated nonchalance. But now…the skimpy clothing made her that much sexier. Hinting at the possibilities of what lay beneath.

  Sable tilted her head back, her hair swinging low against her shoulder blades. Her breasts thrust upward, her exquisite ass on display too. She put both hands on hips, pushing the shorts down a fraction and exposing her belly button for his viewing pleasure. Lips he could have
spent a lifetime nibbling on parted, a sultry signal to come and kiss her senseless, if that’s what he wanted.

  Oh, he wanted.

  “You’ve got that look in your eyes, again,” she said, voice like whiskey.

  “What look is that?” Murphy’s throat cruised past dry and crashed landed, head first, into parched.

  “The one where you watch me like I’m your prey. Ready to devour me.”

  Fuck, yes.

  He had to give her one more chance to come to her senses, though. To recognize the catastrophic event they could be instigating with a single wrong move. “I am a predator and right now, I can only see you as prey. Are you sure you can handle that?” Once he claimed her, there would be no turning back. They both had to go into this with their eyes wide open. “Do you really want to take this all the way?”

  Sable looked at him for such a long moment, he didn’t think she would answer. At last, she gave him a slow nod.

  “Say it,” he growled, the hunger rising in him.

  “All the way.”

  Chapter Seven

  Sable didn’t think her heart could pound so hard. She didn’t think the butterflies in her stomach could loop-the-loop any faster and she sure as hell didn’t believe her excitement for Murphy could be any more fierce than right now.

  He stalked toward her, feral heat blazing from his rich brown eyes.

  At once, she had a sudden rush of apprehension wrapped around excitement. It made her take a step back when he strode within touching distance. “What about the car?” she threw out as a foil.

  “What about it?” The gravel in his voice made girly parts wake up and take notice. So damned sexy.

  “I’m not done.” Was there a tremor in her voice?

  “It’ll be here…after.”

  Something about the way he said that. “How long will that be?”

  He stood right before her, the enticing scent of his skin enough to make her mouth water. She realized now he’d possibly kept his distance for another reason. She might have been the one in the throes of a mating cycle, but he threw off something subliminal that burrowed beneath her skin. A taste of something mysterious hovered just above her taste buds and teased her into mild irritation. It made her crave to taste him, to slake the itch in her throat.