by Vivian Arend
Shifters liked their goodies.
When a wolverine in furry form dashed past them, shifted to human and calmly walked naked into the nearest store, Gem’s little gasp made him chuckle.
“What?”
Gem pointed, then dropped her hand and tangled her fingers together. “Right out in public? What if someone had seen her? I mean, someone human?”
Shaun gestured the length of the street. “Look around. Chicken is on the Top of the World Highway, and the shortest distance from outside civilization to here is a four-hour drive in either direction. The few humans who do make the trip slip right on through. They never stay in town long. We talked about it once, a group of friends and me. The nearest thing we could figure is that with how many shifters live here there’s something in the air that makes humans uncomfortable, so they just keep on driving.”
She shook her head. “Everywhere we go you manage to find new things to surprise me. It’s—”
Caught in mid-pivot, her words froze on her tongue. He rotated to see what she’d discovered to make her expression change that much, that fast. R-rated movie theater? Adult toy store?
A couple stood a few feet from them, kissing. Shaun hesitated. Didn’t seem too risqué to him, but who knows what was the norm for her back home.
“Do you see that?” He could barely hear her, the words whispered so soft and low.
He squeezed her fingers. “I…ah, yeah.”
The couple pressed tighter together, the woman getting into it, her hands buried in the guy’s hair. The man grabbed her ass, and even as Shaun watched, lifted one of her legs to wrap the limb around his hip. Shaun sighed happily. Shifters were so cool about sex.
“I wonder if it would be comfortable?” Gem leaned into his side.
Comfortable? His cock wasn’t comfortable. The damn thing had risen and now pushed urgently against the front of his jeans. “Oh, I think it would be just dandy.”
Gem’s eyelashes fluttered, and she stared at him sweetly. “Do you think that would look good on me?”
Draped over his body, lips locked together and one second away from being screwed in the street? Hell, yeah. “I think you were made for it.”
He reached for her, biting back a curse as she slipped out of reach. Gem dodged the groping couple and ran toward a nearby shop.
Shaun stood in one spot, frozen in confusion.
“Shaun. You coming?”
No. It seemed not. At least not the way he wanted to be. What was going on? He shook his head and concentrated harder on her than the ache in his groin. She had the door to the shop open and hovered in the doorway.
Nope, still clueless. He glanced at the couple again in envy. They had taken all of four steps farther down the street to finish pressed against the side of the building, frantically stripping each other. The shop door shut, and Gem’s figure appeared in the feature glass as she pointed between two dresses displayed on mannequins.
Oh shit. She was talking about shopping, not very Public Displays of Affection.
Okay, he could do shopping. If he had to. He followed her slowly and made plans for at least ravishing her in his mind as he watched her try on outfits.
A guy had to have a little fun.
Gem glided through the restaurant door ahead of Shaun, the loose edge of her new dress skimming her thighs. Her skin tingled as if touched with tiny sparks. The delight racing through her wasn’t just from the nearly scandalous length of the cut. It wasn’t the material itself, with the softness of silk and the teeniest touch of lace stroking her like a million tiny butterfly wings.
It was the way Shaun couldn’t stop staring at her that made the dress worthwhile.
He slipped a hand around her waist and led her to their table, the heat of his touch bleeding through the light layer separating them. Everything was perfect, the way they brushed together intimately as he seated her, the way his gaze kept roaming over her body as they ordered, sipped drinks, ate.
She could barely swallow, her throat tightening as the sexual tension intensified. Whatever lingering annoyances she’d experienced during the tail end of their time in Dawson were washed away by his current attentiveness.
When she stood to take a bathroom break, he leapt to his feet, helping with her chair and stroking his fingers over her shoulders as she left.
Her entire stroll toward the back of the room she swore his gaze never moved off her hips.
An assortment of emotions danced through her as she primped in front of the mirror. Having found her mate was beginning to feel more—right. More like something she could balance in her life, and less like another older male ordering her around. Oh, she was unsure how she was going to convince him to move south, but that wasn’t as important right now as making sure they were okay as a couple. And while sex wasn’t the only thing they should base their relationship on, it wasn’t a bad place to start.
She smoothed her hands down the front of her dress, enjoying the soft caress over her bare legs. Against the nearly naked skin of her lower body. Shaun had no idea she’d found a pair of very sexy underwear to accompany her dress. She wondered what he would do when he made the discovery?
Something wonderfully wicked and intensely pleasurable, that was for sure. Yeah, the starting with sex part was working out fine.
While the future stretched out unknown, there was no doubt in her mind what the rest of today would look like. She was going to go back into the restaurant and knock his socks off, figuratively. Then, after they’d finished dinner and maybe danced a little, it was back to the hotel where she would literally take care of incidentals like socks, shoes and everything else he wore.
Of course, returning to their table and finding it empty put a crimp in her plans.
His jacket lay draped over the armrest, but there was no sign of him anywhere. She stood, hands resting on the back of her chair, slightly disoriented.
Get a grip, girl.
He must have gone to the washroom. Gem sat, feeling foolish she’d hesitated for even a minute. She sipped her water and examined the décor.
Then she heard his laugh, and it hadn’t come from anywhere in the dining room. Gem rose and slipped through the doorway separating the restaurant from the bar. She leaned against the nearest wall, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the lower lighting.
It only took a second to spot him standing next to an extremely pretty woman. The petite lynx shifter was perched on a barstool, her silver-blonde hair tossed over one shoulder in gorgeous smooth sweeps. Gem touched her own head, smoothing down the usual errant strands with fingers suddenly gone numb.
The woman reached out and planted a hand against Shaun’s chest, and Gem’s temper flared.
That was her mate. Gem straightened, intending to go and rip the woman’s head off, or some equally undignified thing, when a touch landed on her shoulder. She turned to look into the buttons lining the shirt of the largest man she’d ever seen. Tilted her head up. Up. Way up.
Dark crew cut. Sparkling green eyes. Broad didn’t even start to describe his shoulders. He had a different scent to him—bear shifter all the way, but not one she was familiar with. A cocky smile played around his mouth, and he tipped his head politely. “Hey. You wanna dance?”
An instant rejection shot to her lips, trapped when a repeat of Shaun’s laughter carried over and sealed her mouth shut. Pain rippled through her, and she fought the violent urge to be ill. No, no cowering in the corner allowed—this was a far better idea. She would see what Shaun thought of her stepping out on him. If moving from woman to woman was what being mated meant here in the north, she wanted to know right now.
Handing him a little of his own medicine felt more than justified.
Gem put aside every instinct in her that screamed noooo and smiled sweetly at the giant. “I would love to.”
She placed her fingers in his and allowed him to guide her onto the crowded floor.
He was a decent enough lead, which let her totally ignore her footing. Whil
e she usually loved to dance, this time she was more interested in darting glances between the other bodies weaving around them. Not that she wanted to see Shaun’s reaction when he realized someone was paying attention to her. No, she was totally uninterested.
The stranger placed a hand on her lower back and tugged her closer. Gem took a quick internal inventory, hoping to find a flicker of interest, some kind of sexual response to being in another man’s arms. Nothing. It was like dancing with her grampa.
The big shifter was a good-looking fellow, but now that she’d met her mate, it was clear there was a downside to not being with Shaun. She simply didn’t want this man touching her. How could Shaun even think of being with another woman? It made no sense. Her partner guided her to the side to avoid a drunkard teetering past them.
“Sorry about that.” Her dance partner leaned down to speak into her ear. “That guy’s not from here. Not sure what he’s doing.”
It seemed obvious to Gem. Falling down in the middle of the dance floor. Even the protective arm around her wasn’t enough to allow the butterflies of fear to settle as the noise level increased, loud shouts and insults traded between the drunk and another couple men at the bar. She peeked in Shaun’s direction again, hating that it was his embrace she wanted to be sheltered in.
Across the room, for a split second, they made eye contact. Shaun’s expression passed instantly from shock into sheer rage before disappearing behind the rising head of the drunken bear as he attempted to regain his feet.
“Hey, pretty lady. I like you.”
A big hand pawed the front of her dress before she could step back, her companion forcing an opening in the crowds to let them escape.
“Get your hands off my mate.” Shaun’s voice echoed off the roof, cutting through the dance music pounding the room.
Oh, now she was his mate? Gem sniffed and moved a step closer to her dance partner.
It was right about then that all hell broke lose.
Shaun stepped onto a bar stool and leapt into the air. The drunken bear made it to his feet just in time to become a landing pad for Shaun’s descending body, and they both tumbled back to the floor. A loud grunt of pain escaped the bear, screams rang in the background and Gem was pushed to her knees as a chair flew overhead.
“Crawl toward the exit,” her partner ordered, covering her with his body as bottles and plates crashed around them.
“Gem!”
She peeked out from under her protective block to see Shaun scrambling upright, only to have a hand snag his ankle and yank him off balance. He kicked backward, connecting a foot with the bear’s face. A roar of anger was followed by a violent swing of arms, and Shaun went down in a tangled mess with the flailing bear.
She was tugged away from the center of the room as the giant bear attempted to get her to safety. Leaving Shaun behind—it was so wrong. Everything in her wanted to stay back and help him. Anger rose—why couldn’t she just turn and walk away? Why should she feel anxious for him when he’d been cheating on her, talking to another woman?
Because talking is one step away from sex, right?
Oh…pickles.
Maybe she’d misunderstood the situation. Even as guilt struck, a loud screeching sound rang from the left, and she glanced over to see a tall buffet descending toward her. There was no time to retreat, too many bodies between her and escape. She threw up her arms and hoped for the best.
Something hard and warm crashed into her, pulling her to the ground and rolling them both to safety under the feet of the roaming crowds.
“Hold on to me,” Shaun shouted above the noise, and Gem’s heart pounded as she obeyed. She snapped one arm around his neck, clinging tight as he cradled her to his body and plunged them forward through the masses toward where the cooler night air poured in the open front door.
She cried as a blow landed on her side. Shaun rolled them again, blocking her from the attack even as he managed to get them free from the mess and out into the relative calm of the street.
There were shifters everywhere, in human and animal form. The fights continued, but the scene around them blurred as Gem clutched Shaun with a death grip and allowed him to sweep her up in his arms to carry her away.
“Are you okay?” He paused outside a shop to run a quick gaze over her. “Damn it, Gem, when I saw you go down, I thought I would die.”
Her side ached, but the look in his eyes made things infinitely better. Then she noticed he was bleeding.
“I’m okay, but your face—”
He’d been hit, a ribbon of blood trickling from the cut on his forehead. “Those damn bears. I’ll be fine, but they are acting awfully weird—even for grizzlies.”
“You bastard. Ready to take your medicine?”
Raucous shouts rose from the street behind them, and Gem cowered against Shaun’s side as he cradled her protectively. A crowd of dark bodies had surrounded one figure—the man she’d been dancing with. Two of the group smacked him on the back and sent him sprawling to his knees. He rolled, but couldn’t escape before another shifter landed on top of him and began to systematically pound blows against his unprotected face.
Gem’s throat tightened. She had no idea what was going on, but didn’t think anyone deserved this kind of abuse. She tugged on Shaun’s arm.
“He’s all by himself, seven against one? What could he have done? I didn’t see him do anything wrong.”
Shaun nodded once. “Even if he did, this isn’t the way to deal with it.”
He squeezed her tight before turning toward the street.
Gem stepped after him. “Should I…?”
He twirled to face her. “You stay out of it, okay?”
“But I can—”
“Stay out of it.” He clamped onto her arms and stared her in the eye. “I can’t fight if I’m worried about you. Please.”
It only took a second for her to nod, and when he pointed to a nearby doorway, she fled in obedience. It didn’t matter how strong she was as a wolf, not when other kinds of shifters were involved.
From the safety of the entranceway, she turned to watch as he waded back into the fray. Fists flying, feet kicking. The match was hard and dirty, but Shaun moved with an easy grace, mowing down bodies in his path one by one until he reached the centre of the fight and peeled the two main opponents apart.
“Is he your mate?” a feminine voice asked from beside her.
Gem refused to look away, cringing as a blow rocked Shaun. “Yes. What’s happening?”
“The bears have some kind of territorial battle brooding. There is supposed to be a peaceful gathering in Dawson, but a few side agendas seem to be heating up their blood. Martin—the one getting the shit kicked out of him—he’s local. I’m surprised he’s involved, he’s not usually into politics.”
“Is there someone who can stop this?” Martin was back on his feet, standing shoulder to shoulder with Shaun as the circling group of bears took random swings and lunges their direction.
“Like the police?”
“Yes.” Gem slammed a hand over her mouth to capture her gasp of fear. Shaun ducked at the last moment before landing a solid punch on another attacker.
“There are times it’s better to let the guys beat each other senseless. Being shifters and all, it gets messy when they think they’re being bossed around, especially by us females.”
Gem snuck a quick peek to her side and finally saw who stood next to her. “Oh. It’s you.”
The lynx shifter who had been with Shaun in the bar eyed her curiously. “You have an issue with me, sweetie?”
The intensity of Gem’s simmering fear as it burst into blazing anger surprised her. “Hands off my mate from now on, okay?”
The woman backed up. “Hey, I’m all about the peaceful stuff. No problem.”
Someone called out Nadia, and the lynx turned, waving her hand at the summons as if annoyed. Gem spotted an abandoned walking stick leaning against the wall beside the door, and desperation sent a
terrible idea into her head.
She snatched up the stick. Her mate was in trouble, and she was not going to stand there and watch.
“What are you doing?” Nadia asked.
Besides shaking with fear? “Letting them fight is not the way to solve matters. Fighting is childish and unproductive.”
Gem slipped toward the street. In the short time she’d had her attention elsewhere, Shaun and Martin had knocked another couple of the gang to the ground, but there was blood pouring down Martin’s arm, and more smeared across Shaun’s face. Gem swallowed hard. Getting involved wasn’t what Shaun had asked for, but she simply couldn’t stand there and watch him be outnumbered.
She raced forward and swung with all her might.
Of course, if she hadn’t squeezed her eyes shut, she would have had a better chance of hitting any one. The sudden thunk as the stick made contact with something surprised her enough her eyes popped open just in time to see one of the bears go down with a satisfying crash.
That’s when she realized she was a touch too close to the continuing action, and twirled to race out of reach.
A cooling mist floated past her.
Gem stared at the sky in confusion, looking for a cloud, or barring that, a water hose being used on the fighters, but there was nothing. Still, her heart rate slowed, and the stick grew impossibly heavy. The impromptu weapon slipped from her fingers as the blonde lynx walked past.
Nadia stepped over the prone bodies to stare in disgust. “What a waste of energy, boys. You want to fight, do it properly. Give us time to organize bets and make it a real evening’s entertainment. Otherwise, you simply piss off the locals, and that’s no fun for anyone.”
One of the men snarled at her, and she planted her fists on her hips and glared harder.
He dropped to his knees without another sound.
“See, that’s what I mean. When you’re all growly and stuff? No one likes you.” She clapped her hands and motioned to the bar with her head. “Everyone, time to cool down. Grab a broom, get that dance floor cleaned up and go back to relaxing. No more fights tonight. Got it?”