Boarlander Silverback

by T. S. Joyce

  “Thank you,” Alison rasped out past her tightening vocal cords.

  And when she let go, her gaze drifted to Kong, who stood tall under a towering spruce. He didn’t look angry or hurt like she’d expected. He looked…relieved.

  She approached slow, and after a moment of hesitation, she hugged his waist gently. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Kong chuckled a deep, reverberating sound and hugged her back. “No loss. I have a baby on the way with the mate I always dreamed of. Kirk deserves the same. If you need anything, you call us. Just because you two aren’t Lowlanders doesn’t mean we won’t be there for you.”

  Unable to speak, Alison nodded and released him.

  She made to leave, but he said, “Ally?”

  God, she loved the sound of her nickname on her friends’ lips. She had friends now. The real kind, not the pretend ones she’d made as Ghost.

  “Yeah?” she asked, turning.

  “What you said in that stall. Telling Kirk you love him in front of everyone?” Kong pursed his lips and nodded. “That means a lot to men like me and Kirk. I’m really glad he picked you.”

  She arched her attention to Kirk, who was talking low to Bash as the bear shifter poured a bottle of water over his injured shoulder. He must’ve been in pain, but when he caught her staring at him, Kirk gave her one of those smiles that made everything seem right in the world.

  “I’m glad he picked me, too.”

  ****

  Kirk changed gears and hit the gas on a straightaway, then immediately slid his hand over her thigh again. It was the middle of the night, and she should’ve been exhausted, but the adrenaline dump from earlier had done something strange to her. She hadn’t crashed. Instead, she felt jittery.

  Kirk cast a slight frown at her leg as she shook it in quick succession. His eyes were still too light, and there was a soft rumble in his chest that hadn’t diminished since they’d left the woods. She suspected his animal was riled up due to pain. She’d watched Bash put his dislocated shoulder back into the socket, and though Kirk rarely showed his hurt, he’d winced hard and grunted under Bash’s none-to-gentle touch.

  At least his bruises were healing. Matt had told her Kirk had a few cracked ribs, but already, they seemed to be healed. He wasn’t favoring them or his shoulder anymore. Shifter healing was miraculous.

  Kirk’s gaze drifted from the road passing under his headlights to her shaking leg again. He squeezed her thigh gently. “Ally, tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”

  Deliberately, she stilled. “Sorry. I’m still a little worked up from tonight. I’ve seen a lot, but that was insane.” The memory of Kong and Kirk beating their chests as they charged each other flashed across her mind. “You hide a very powerful animal from the world.”

  Kirk snorted. “Not anymore. Kong and I are probably all over the Internet right now. Cora is gonna skin us alive.” He slipped a finger into the ripped hole on the thigh of her jeans, and unintentionally, she rocked her hips.

  A wicked smile curved Kirk’s lips. “You worked up, too?”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she lied.

  “Fighting does that to me.” He drew her hand against his crotch, and she gasped at how rigid his erection was. “I wanted to take you into the woods and fuck you hard when you showed up. Part of it is instinct. I get possessive and desperate to touch you. And part of it is that tight shirt you’re wearin’ tonight. You look damn good in black, your tats showing down your arm, that sexy as fuck hair, that smoky eye shit you’re wearing that makes your eyes look brighter blue. Tight shirt showing off those perfect tits, and those tight jeans hugging your perfect ass. It’s hard to focus around you.”

  “Is that why Harrison kicked me out of the stall? To get your head on straight?”

  “Probably.”

  Teasingly, she gripped his erection over his jeans and dragged her hand up the length of him. “Only half an hour and we’ll be home.”

  Kirk lifted his hips slightly, chasing her touch, and shifted gears to maneuver the winding mountain road. The roar of his Mustang overpowered the rap music on the radio as he shifted again and gunned it on a straightaway. “Too long.”

  “I should stop so you don’t drive us off a cliff,” she murmured. She moved to pull away, but he grabbed her hand and pressed it on his dick again, then rolled against her palm with a soft, huffed breath.

  Kirk’s hair was flipped over to the opposite side of his face, giving her access to drink in all of him, from his glowing eyes to the slight frown of intensity that furrowed his dark eyebrows. Thick neck, defined pecs, and his arm flexed as he gripped the wheel tighter. His abs were perfect mounds of muscle, rippling as he pushed against her hand again. Big, powerful legs pressed against his hole-riddled blue jeans and damn, Kirk was the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on.

  Alison unfastened his jeans and pushed them down far enough to release his rigid shaft with its swollen head and silky skin. As she drew a light touch up his long, thick length, his dick throbbed, and a drop of creamy moisture appeared on the tip. She loved how ready he was for her all the time. How affected he was by her touch and by the way she looked. Sexual heat like this hadn’t existed before he’d come into her life.

  If she was unsure of what he wanted before, that question was laid to rest the second he wrapped his fingers gently in the back of her hair and pulled her face toward his lap. Good mate, telling her what he wanted. With a private smile, she gripped him and slid her lips over his cock. He tensed under her and let off the sexiest groan, deep in his throat. Alison eased off, then took him in her mouth again. His fingers tightened in her hair, but he didn’t push. She could taste his delicious saltiness and reveled in the fact she could draw this reaction out of a man like Kirk. Powerful, masculine, growly gorilla shifter, and he wasn’t even complaining at the slow pace she set with her mouth.

  His body tensed and relaxed with each stroke of her lips and tongue, and now the car was slowing. Downshift, hard right turn, and the road turned uneven.

  She was so wet now, so revved up because of those sexy noises her mate was making over the blare of the radio. When Alison slid her hand down her belly and into the front of her jeans, Kirk slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop. He threw it into park and leaned his seat back, then pulled her onto his lap until she straddled him.

  “Want to see you touch yourself,” he said in a gravelly voice, his glowing gold eyes riveted between her legs.

  Alison arched her back as he unzipped the front of her jeans. With a soft gasp, she slid her hand into her panties and pushed her finger inside of her. She rolled her hips, barely touching Kirk’s dick with the movement.

  He gripped her thighs hard and spread his knees wider.

  She let off a soft moan, grabbed the back of his neck with her free hand, and pushed her finger into herself again.

  The growl in Kirk’s throat was constant now. So sexy. Feral. My mate.

  The door opened, and Kirk had them out of his car in an instant. It was all she could do to hold onto him as he rushed them out onto a dirt road in front of his car. The radio was still blaring, and the headlights lit up the woods around them. Kirk laid her down on her back and stripped her jeans off, his movements jerky and desperate. He tucked the loose fabric under her butt, and she spread her legs wide for him, feeling drunk on his touch.

  He lifted slightly on his knees and slid his thick shaft into her. As he eased out, he rolled his eyes closed and gritted out a relieved sound.

  Alison raked her nails down his chest as he locked his arms on either side of her head. Every muscle of his beautiful body was flexed and cast in soft shadows while the headlights illuminated his striking, powerful shoulders over her.

  Kirk shoved her shirt upward and lowered himself onto her belly, kissed her hard, rammed his tongue into her mouth as he pushed into her again, stretching her with his girth. His hard body felt amazing against her as he moved in smooth, commanding thrusts.

  Alison w
as gone. Each of her breaths brought a needy sound that got louder with every stroke into her, and the volume of the growl in Kirk’s throat matched until he threw his head back, yelled out as he slammed into her harder.

  The light of his car was blinding now, and the stars above were too bright to look at. Closing her eyes tightly, she bowed against the earth, meeting him blow for blow until the first drum of her orgasm shattered her. Her release intensified, and she screamed out his name.

  With a feral-sounding growl, Kirk pulled out of her and took himself in hand. He gripped his dick and lifted above her. She couldn’t take her eyes away from his graceful movement as he pulled stroke after stroke. Her orgasm pulsed on between her legs. He was letting her watch! Kirk locked an arm near her cheek and leaned forward. And as his stomach tightened, the first warm shot of his release splashed onto her belly, followed by another and another. His hips jerked, his eyes locked on hers. As he emptied himself completely, he ground out, “Mine.”

  Oh, there was her wild man. Her wild mate. There was the possessive shifter side that sat just under the surface, marking his territory. She was his. Maybe she had been from the moment they’d seen each other.

  She traced the bite mark she’d made on his shoulder. Lifting off the ground, she kissed the scar gently, then lay back and touched the dark scruff that shaded his jaw. As he pressed his lips against her palm, she whispered, “Always.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Always. Kirk put his car into park and let his hand slip from the steering wheel. The way she’d said “always” when they’d been together in the woods had split his heart open so wide it was almost painful.

  Ally inhaled deeply, but didn’t wake up in the dim street light that illuminated the yard of her cabin. The soft glow lit up her cheek and, carefully, Kirk brushed her short blond hair from her face. It felt like silk and had soft waves to it. Her roots were darker to match her lashes that rested against her cheeks. A natural brunette, but he liked her like this. She’d been affected by her years undercover and looked accordingly tough, but he was the one she shared her real self with. Beautiful mate.

  He relaxed against the headrest, just staring at her because he could. Usually, she grew self-conscious under his prolonged attention, likely a product of her phantom past. Invisibility had meant survival, but she was safe here with him. He would make sure of it. He would make sure she knew she was protected, and he would be the lucky one who got to watch her open up.

  God, she had him. Ally didn’t even realize how much he cared about her. How devoted he was. How much she owned him, body and soul.

  His decision to choose the Boarlanders wasn’t just about him. Sure, he’d grown an undeniable loyalty to Harrison and his crew, but choosing them also meant another layer of safety for his mate. She had an undercover past, and he didn’t know how many enemies she’d found in that life, but he knew the crews of Damon’s mountains would go to war for their own. Winning his freedom from Kong tonight meant Ally was now a part of this place.

  Kirk searched the dusty gravel parking lot in front of her cabin. The road blocks were up, but he would drive around them like he always did. He’d been so damned tempted to bring Ally back to Boarland Mobile Park, to 1010, just so he could sleep beside her all night. He’d never done that with a woman before. In fact, Ally was taking more of his firsts than she knew. Being with her felt different from every other relationship in his life. She was more.

  She was richness and fulfillment. She was polish on a dirty penny, and now he felt like his entire life had led him here, to this life with her. Fuck where he came from. Fuck his messed up people and the treachery Fiona had pulled. Fuck every single thing except for the life he was building with Ally.

  She deserved everything. To be provided for, to feel safe. She deserved his fealty and the protection of his body. She deserved to be happy, and he was going to work his ass off every day for the rest of his life to give that to her if she would let him.

  He had to be up in a few hours for one of the last long days of logging season so he couldn’t afford to stall anymore. Being exhausted on the jobsite put his crew at risk. His crew.

  Kirk huffed a soft chuckle. Damn, it felt good to belong to something bigger than himself. To something that didn’t stifle him or leave him hungry for a life he could only imagine.

  Ally had done that—made him choose a future.

  Kirk got out of his Mustang, shut the door easy, then strode around the front. Ally sighed the cutest little sleep sound he’d ever heard as he unbuckled her and lifted her from the car. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled her cheek against the base of his throat and now his gorilla was practically clapping inside of him like a giddy teenager. She never looked at him like he was a monster, and she didn’t mind his rough edges like he’d been afraid of. Instead, the more he exposed of himself, the better they seemed to fit together.

  It felt so damned good to have found his person. His partner. His mate. His Ally.

  He maneuvered her front door open. As the swinging screen door creaked closed behind him, he strode through the office area to her bedroom. Settling her gently on the mattress, he lowered to his knees beside the bed and gave into his urge to touch her. Kirk drew her to the edge and hugged her securely against him. Inhaling deeply, he committed her scent to memory. Shampoo, soap, earth, Ally…him. He liked best the way she smelled right after they’d had sex, and screw whatever monstrous things that said about him.

  “Ally,” he murmured.

  Her eyes fluttered open, and she stretched against him like a sleepy feline.

  “Earlier you said something to me, and it took me by surprise. I didn’t respond like I should’ve. You were brave enough to tell me you loved me, and I didn’t tell you how I felt about you.”

  “Then tell me now, you big sappy monkey,” she whispered.

  The words caught in his throat. Not because he didn’t feel them with every fiber of his being, but because he’d never said them before to anyone. He buried his face against her neck. “I love you.”

  Her cheek swelled with a smile against his. “Now say it while you’re looking at me.”

  He sighed and eased back, searched her eyes in the dim streetlamp lighting that filtered through her bedroom window. “Ally Cat Ghost Holman—”

  “Stop it and be serious.”

  “I love you.”

  The smile dipped from her face, then returned slowly, like she couldn’t believe he was saying these sentiments to her.

  “You had to have known how I felt, Ally.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “But it’s different hearing you say it out loud. Feels better than just hoping you feel the same as I do.”

  Kirk kissed her soft lips, then stood to leave, but she held his hand. “Don’t go. Not yet. Can you just stay here with me for a little while? I don’t want the night to end. Not yet.”

  “Okay.” Kirk kicked out of his shoes and climbed onto the bed behind her, spooned her against his chest, and nuzzled his face into the back of her neck.

  And then Ally—his Ally—took another first from him as he fell asleep beside her.

  ****

  Kirk’s warmth left her back, and Ally pouted sleepily. She was still lying on top of the covers, and the only thing that had kept her from the chill in the air was her big, naturally hot-natured mate.

  But when she turned around to beg him to lie back down beside her, the look on Kirk’s face had her sitting straight up beside him. He had his head canted, his ear directed at the window to the back yard. Outside, gray dawn light streaked through the sky, which made it easy to see the suspicion on Kirk’s face.

  “Can you hear that?” he asked.

  She listened really hard. Other than a few morning birds chirping outside and her own breathing, she didn’t hear anything. “No. What does it sound like?”

  He narrowed his eyes as if searching for the right words. “Like something tiny and high pitched. Like the whine of a mosquito, but it’s
constant. A buzzing. Electric maybe. It’s almost too high for me to hear but I had trouble sleeping because it doesn’t belong out here.”

  She ran her hands over the gooseflesh on his back. Something had his instincts up.

  “Do you have a computer?” he asked low.

  “Yeah, in the other room. It’s turned off, though.”

  “Huh.” He was doing it again, angling his ear toward the window. In a distracted voice, he said, “I’ll be right back.” Lithely, Kirk slid out of bed and padded silently out of the room.

  In a less graceful maneuver, Alison flopped out of bed like a tuna fish and bolted for the peg on the wall where her holster was hung. She pulled her Glock and checked the clip, then slipped out the back door behind Kirk.

  He was standing in the clearing, hands on his hips as he scanned the canopy above. He slid one bright-eyed glance at her over his shoulder before he strode up to a giant pine and climbed up the branches so easily she lowered her weapon to her side and gawked. Midway up, Kirk gripped the trunk and yanked something off the bark. Then just as gracefully and swiftly, he climbed back down and stared at something small and black on the palm of his hand.

  Ice prickled her blood as Alison approached him slowly, gun angled toward the ground, eyes glued on the contraption. “What is that?”

  He rolled his palm, turning the device over in his hand, and she gasped as she recognized the lens of a small camera. She’d used similar ones in her years undercover.

  Kirk lifted his troubled gaze to hers. “You’re being watched.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Alison leaned against the doorframe to her bedroom and studied Finn as he reclined in the office chair and tossed a tennis ball into the air. He looked calm-as-you-like, but her red flags had been flashing non-stop about him lately.

  He’d become combative and hard to hold a conversation with. After the influx of videos from the silverback fight, he’d spewed his disdain for Kirk and her involvement with him. Thank goodness her years undercover had made her hart to track, because so far, no one had listed her name yet in the videos of the fight. She’d been there, followed by the cell phone cameras as she’d walked beside Kirk out of that barn. On the outside, she’d looked calm and collected, head held high, her hand on Kirk’s ribs as Kong and Layla had followed them directly, the other shifters of Damon’s mountains pushing back the crowd around her. If anyone had questions about Kirk being paired up before, those had been put to rest with the #kirksqueen that was circulating the Internet.