Kim played the files, her heart aching. There was a lot of footage of Liam smiling his warm smile and speaking in his deep Irish lilt, telling Silas what he wanted the world to know about Shifters. Dylan spoke too, giving the same details but in a different enough way that it didn’t sound as though they’d worked it out beforehand. Kim knew they had. She also knew exactly what they had decided to leave out.
There was footage of how the Shifters lived from day to day, shots of Michael playing in his front yard. Michael was photogenic, and his cuteness radiated from the screen. Silas also showed Connor and his friends kicking a soccer ball around the backyards, Connor talking about his love of “football” and what a fan he was of the Irish national team.
Silas didn’t show only sparkles and smiles, however. He talked to Shifters about the darker side of their lives—the high death rate of Shifter children, which had started to come down only in the last decade, the low fecundity of the females. He talked about how the different Shifter species didn’t get along “in the wild” but had made concessions to live together in harmony. Ellison was particularly eloquent in that segment, looking handsome with his big cowboy hat and wide smile.
A group of Shifters did a Collar “demonstration,” which proved that Collars worked well, and Silas showed a meditation by some Shifter parents for children they’d lost.
Kim viewed the files again and again, pausing on Liam’s smile, his blue eyes assuring the viewers that Shifters were little different from humans.
She watched the recording far too often. And far too often, she opened her cell phone and looked at Liam’s number, wondering if she should tell him all the things she’d decided.
“Call me anytime, love,” he’d said, when he’d programmed the number into it weeks ago.
Damn Shifters.
In the cool of late September, Kim came home from her new office on a Friday and spent the weekend packing.
Sunday afternoon, she put everything in her car that she could fit. She’d get help with the rest. She closed the trunk, started the car, and drove back to Shiftertown.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Liam knew the car was Kim’s without looking up. He crouched in the driveway beside his motorcycle, wrench in hand, completing a few tweaks to his bike.
He’d ridden this motorcycle to the posh neighborhood north of the river every night for the last two months, cutting the engine before he reached the hill above Kim’s house. He’d sit there for a long time, the bike silent between his legs, watching her lighted bedroom window. When the light went out, Liam would kiss his fingertips to it, then coast back down the hill and ride home.
The hole in his heart wanted to close in hope as she stopped the Mustang and climbed out. She wore the high-heeled sandals he liked, ones that made her bare legs sexy as hell.
He watched the legs out of the corner of his eye as she strode up the driveway, letting her scent flow over him as she walked past him.
Walked past him?
Liam looked around to see Kim shove a cardboard box at Connor, who’d bounded out of the house.
“Will you carry that in for me?” Kim asked Connor sweetly. “Put it anywhere. I have a couple more in the trunk.”
Kim returned to the car, again moving past Liam without speaking to him. She reached through the open passenger window, giving him a view of her nice ass, and pulled out an overnight bag.
“Hello, Sean.” Kim smiled as Sean came out of the house behind Connor. “Can you grab the suitcases in my backseat? They’re heavy.”
She waltzed up the driveway, a determined smile on her face, bag slung over her shoulder.
Liam wiped his hands, stood, and planted himself in her path. “And what would you be doing here?”
“Moving in. Don’t worry, I’ll pay for my share of the groceries.”
Kim started to go around him, and Liam stepped in front of her again. “Why?”
“Don’t argue with her, Liam,” Connor said, carrying the second box from the trunk. He rubbed Kim’s shoulder as he went past her, like a cat to a litter mate. “She’s back to stay, where she belongs.”
“She belongs with her own kind,” Liam said sternly.
“Not anymore,” Connor said. “We need her, Liam, you especially. You’ve been pissed off for weeks. Don’t mess this up.”
Sean, Liam’s dear supportive brother, didn’t offer any comment. He silently removed Kim’s suitcases from the backseat and carried them inside.
Liam’s breath hurt. Gods, Kim was beautiful. Her dark hair looked shinier than ever, her eyes a deeper blue, her full breasts making his hands itch to cup them. If he did that right now, he’d leave greasy handprints on her pretty white shirt, and wouldn’t everyone laugh?
“Why, love?” he asked. “Why are you back to tear out my heart?”
She smiled. “It’s got nothing to do with you. I want our kid to know its father, and when it first changes into a wildcat, he or she will need someone who knows what to do standing by.”
Liam stopped. “Kid?”
“A little half-Shifter boy or girl. I don’t know which; haven’t had an ultrasound yet.”
“Ultrasound . . .”
Kim laughed in true mirth. “You knocked me up, Liam Morrissey. Now you have to live with the consequences.”
Connor came running out of the house, whooped, and punched the air. “Kim’s pregnant! Woo-hoo!” He hurtled toward Kim, caught her in a hug and swung her off her feet. “I’m going to be a cousin!”
Connor’s shouting drew people outside. Glory emerged first, sauntering down her porch stairs, her tight leopard-print pants startling. Dylan strolled out behind her. He’d moved in with Glory the day after Kim left, further emptying the house.
“Did I hear that right?” Glory called. “You’re up the spout?”
Kim drew a breath once Connor finally put her down. “Confirmed by my gynecologist last week.”
Liam kept wiping his hands on the rag. “I thought you took contraceptives.”
“I was coming up on the end of my dose, and we had a lot of sex, Liam, if you recall. And maybe Shifter sperm are livelier than human’s.”
“Shite,” Liam said around the lump in his throat.
More neighbors emerged onto front porches, and Ellison came around from his backyard, shirtless, his jeans covered with dirt and grass stains. When Ellison understood what was going on, he put his hands on his hips, threw back his head, and howled. Answering howls came from up and down the street.
Great. How long before the news reached the other side of Shiftertown? Five minutes? Two?
“I’m staying, Liam,” Kim said. “Whether you like it or not.”
“Gods.” Liam threw down the oily rag and caught Kim in his arms, damn the stains. He crushed Kim against him, lips finding her hair, her face, her mouth. “I love you, Kim. Don’t ever leave me.”
“That’s the idea.”
“I need you.”
She rubbed his cheek. “I know.”
Liam had driven her away to keep her safe, most of all from himself. But having her in his arms again, smelling her, tasting her, hearing her voice—it broke him, defeated the beast inside him. The feral in him crumpled as surely as Fergus had crumpled under the Guardian’s sword.
Liam held her tighter. “You’re all mine.”
“You betcha.”
Liam touched his forehead to hers. “I love you so damn much.”
Kim grinned at him. “And I adore you.”
Liam gave her a long, heartfelt kiss. She got into it, sliding her arms around him to cup his butt, snaking her fingers into his back pockets. She was a loving, warm, sexy woman. How’d he get so damn lucky?
Liam eased back from the kiss, licking the light bruise he’d already put on her lip. He’d learn how to be gentle with her, tender. And then he’d be wild. The sparkle in her eyes told him she wanted it both ways.
As soon as he raised his head, they were hit by the family. First Connor, still shouting, th
rowing his arms around both Liam and Kim. Then Sean, laughing, catching Liam in a bear hug, rubbing Kim’s shoulders and kissing her cheek.
Dylan, his eyes full, holding Liam hard, then Kim. Kim gasped when Glory flung her arms around her, squeezing her.
“You did good, kid,” she said.
And then Ellison, whooping and howling like the Lupine he was, jerking Liam off his feet in a rough embrace. “You virile shit, you. Taking the best woman for yourself.”
“Watch it,” Glory said.
Ellison draped his arms around Connor and Sean. “This calls for a beer.” He started with them for the house, his way of leaving Liam and Kim tactfully alone. Glory followed, after a look at Dylan.
“Seamus,” Connor was saying. “Patrick, maybe?”
“What are you talking about?” Ellison asked him.
“Names for the wee one. Eoghan, maybe?”
“Give the kid a break. Who the hell could spell that?”
The house swallowed them. Dylan put his hands on Kim’s and Liam’s shoulders. “The Goddess bless you both.” He kissed Kim’s forehead. “Thank you, Kim.”
He smiled and walked away. Liam watched him, his heart full.
“Is he thanking me for getting pregnant?” Kim asked. “It wasn’t difficult, with all the sex we kept having. You did as much as I did.”
Liam pulled her against him again. She belonged there, felt so right fitted to him. “He meant for coming back to us. For keeping us a family.”
“That wasn’t difficult, either.” She gave him a smile. “You’re wrong about where I belong, Liam. This is the kind of family I had before my brother died, one of warmth and laughter, of knowing the house was full every night. It’s what I’ve been looking for in the last decade or so, even when I didn’t know it.” Kim looked up at him, her blue eyes full of love. “I belong right here. With you.”
She’d break his heart all right. Or maybe she’d finally heal it. Liam pulled her close, his lips meeting hers.
Damn, kissing the human way was good. How could he have never liked it before?
Because he’d never done it with Kim before.
Kim caught his lower lip between her teeth, and Liam felt the front of his jeans get unbearably tight. He murmured in her ear, “Do you think we can make it upstairs?”
“I’m all for trying.” Her gaze turned sultry. “Besides, they’re shouting so much, they’ll cover up all the noise I plan to make.”
Liam squeezed her, growling. “I love you, woman.”
“Good to know.”
They did make it past the mob and up the stairs. Dylan saw them go, but he only smiled quietly and turned away.
The door closed, the lock locked. Clothes came off, and Liam had Kim naked against him. His heart was whole, his brain clear, and his body melting with desire. Kim’s smile put him over the top.
“Love you, Liam,” she whispered.
“Always,” Liam said brokenly. “I’ll love you forever.”
They had strong, bed-shaking, wet, and sweaty sex that drowned out even the revelry downstairs.
Liam’s brother, nephew, friends, and every member of his clan never let them hear the end of it.
Turn the page for a preview of the next
Shifters Unbound novel by Jennifer Ashley
PRIMAL BONDS
Available now from Berkley Sensation!
CHAPTER ONE
Andrea Gray had just set the beer bottle in front of her customer when the first of the shots rocketed through the open front door. The bar just outside of the Austin Shiftertown had no windows, but the front door always stood wide open, and now a cascade of gunfire poured through the welcoming entrance.
The next thing Andrea knew, she was on the floor with two hundred and fifty pounds of solid Shifter muscle on top of her. She knew exactly who pinned her, knew the shape and feel of the long body pressing her back and thighs, trapping her with male strength. She struggled but couldn’t budge him. Damned Feline.
“Get off me, Sean Morrissey.”
His voice with its Irish lilt trickled into her ear, swirling heat into her belly. “You stay down when the bullets fly, love.”
A ferocious roar sounded as Ronan, the bouncer, ran past, heading outside in his Kodiak bear form. Andrea heard more shots and then the bear’s bellow of pain. Bullets splintered the bottles above the bar with a musical sound, and colorful glass and fragrant alcohol rained to the floor. Another roar, this one from a lion, vibrated in the air, and the hail of bullets suddenly ceased. Tires squealed as an engine revved before the sound died off into the distance.
Stunned silence followed, then whimpers, moans, and the angry voice of Andrea’s aunt Glory. “Bastards. Human lickbrain assholes.”
Shifters started rising, talking, cursing.
“You can get off me now, Sean,” Andrea said.
Sean lingered, his warm weight pouring sensations into Andrea’s brain—strength, virility, protectiveness—You’re safe with me, love, and you always will be. Finally he rose to his feet and pulled her up with him; six-feet-five of enigmatic Shifter male, the black-haired, blue-eyed, Collared Feline to whom Andrea owed her freedom.
Sean didn’t step away from her, staying right inside her personal space so that the heat of his body surrounded her. “Anyone hurt?” he called. “Everyone all right?”
His voice was strong, but Andrea sensed his worry that he’d have to act as Guardian tonight, which meant driving his sword through the heart of his dying friends to send their bodies to dust and their souls to the afterlife. The Sword of the Guardian leaned against the wall in the back office, where Sean stashed it any night he spent in the bar. Since Andrea had come to work there, he’d spent most nights in the bar, watching her.
She’d also seen in the two weeks she’d lived next door to Sean Morrissey that he hated the thought of using the sword. His primary job was to be called in when there was no longer any hope, and that fact put a dark edge to his entire life. Not many people saw this, but Andrea had noticed.
Andrea was close enough now to Sean to sense his muscles relax as people assured him they were all right. Shifters climbed slowly to their feet, shaken, but there was no one dead or wounded. They’d been lucky.
The floor was littered with glass and splintered wood, the smell of spilled alcohol was sharp, and bullet holes riddled the dark walls. Half the bottles and glasses behind the bar had been destroyed, and the human bartender crawled shakily out from under a table.
A wildcat zoomed in through the front door and stopped by a clump of humans not yet brave enough to get up. Feline Shifters were a cross between breeds: lion, leopard, tiger, jaguar, cheetah—bred centuries ago from the best of each. The Morrissey family had a lot of lion in it, and this wildcat had heavily muscled shoulders, a tawny body, and a black mane. It rose on its hind legs, its head nearly touching the ceiling, before it shifted into the tall form of Liam Morrissey, Sean’s older brother.
The human males at his feet looked up in terror. But what did the idiots expect if they hung out in a Shifter bar? Shifter groupies baffled Andrea. They wore imitation Collars and pretended to adore all things Shifter, but whenever Shifters behaved like Shifters, they cringed in fear. Go home, children.
“Sean,” Liam said over the crowd, eyes holding questions.
“No one in here got hit. How’s Ronan?”
“He’ll live.” The anger on Liam’s face mirrored Sean’s own. “Humans, a carload of them.” Again, he didn’t say.
“Cowards,” Glory spat. Eyes white with rage, the platinum blonde helped another Shifter woman to her feet. The Collar around Glory’s neck, which she wore like a fashion accessory to her body-hugging gold lamé, emitted half a dozen sparks. “Let me go after them.”
“Easy.” Liam’s voice held such calm authority that Glory backed off in spite of herself, and her Collar went silent. Liam’s Collar didn’t spark at all, although Andrea felt the waves of anger from him.
One of the Shifter group
ies raised his hands. “Hey, man, it had nothing to do with us.”
Liam forced a smile, stuffing himself back into his ostensible role as bar manager. “I know that, lad,” he said. “I’m sorry for your trouble. You come back in tomorrow, why don’t you? The first round’s on me.”
His Irish lilt was pronounced, Liam the Shiftertown leader at his most charming, but the humans didn’t look comforted. Liam was stark naked, except for his Collar—a large, muscular male, gleaming with sweat, who could kill the men at his feet in one blow if he wanted to. As much as they pretended to want the thrill of that danger, Shifter groupies didn’t like it when the danger was real.
Ronan staggered back in, no longer in his bear form. Ronan was even bigger than Liam and Sean, nearly seven feet tall, broad of shoulder and chest, and tight with muscle. His face was sheet white, his shoulder torn and covered with blood.
Andrea shook off Sean’s protective hold and went to him. “Damn it, Ronan, what were you doing?”
“My job.” The amount of blood flowing down his torso would have had a human on the floor in shock. Ronan merely looked embarrassed.
Sean got to the man’s other side. “In the back, lad. Now.”
“I’m fine. It’s just a bullet. My own fault.”
“Shut it.” Sean and Andrea towed the bigger man to a door marked “Private,” and Sean more or less shoved him into the office beyond.
The office was ordinary—cluttered desk, a couple of chairs, a storage cabinet, shabby sofa, and a small safe in the wall that only the bar’s human owner was supposed to know the combination to. Andrea knew good and well that Liam and Sean knew it too.
The Sword of the Guardian leaned against the wall like an upright cross, and threads of its Fae magic floated to Andrea from across the room. Andrea had no idea whether pure Shifters could sense the sword’s magic as she, a half-Fae, half-Lupine Shifter could, but she did know that the Shifters in this Shiftertown regarded the sword, and Sean, with uncomfortable awe.
Shifters Unbound 1 - Pride mates Page 27