Bria and the Tiger (The Shifters Series Book 5)

by Elizabeth Kelly

  “You’re welcome.”

  There was an awkward silence. Jace rubbed at the scruff on his jaw. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the office.”

  “Yes.”

  “Right. Okay, bye.”

  “Bye.”

  He turned to go, and her tiger whined like a housecat. “Jace, wait.”

  “What’s wrong?” He studied her closely.

  “Nothing. I just – is your back really healed?”

  He shrugged. “Mostly. My chest is completely healed – that salve you gave me is amazing – but I couldn’t put the salve on my back so it’s taking longer to heal.”

  She bit her lip. “Um, your house is on my way home. Do you want me to stop and put some salve on your back?”

  “I thought you had a thing.”

  She smiled a little. “Sorry, I didn’t. I just – Rosalie obviously didn’t want us to see what books she was buying.”

  “Seriously?” Jace gave her a surprised look. “Why not?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s why I lied. She wanted us to leave.”

  “Oh. Well then, yes, I’d like it if you stopped by.” He backed away quickly, as if afraid she would change her mind. “I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes then?”

  “Yeah, okay.” She climbed into her car and gave Jace a brief wave before starting the car and driving toward the exit.

  Her tiger was purring and trilling excitedly. What the hell was she doing? Going to Jace’s house was a very bad idea, but one she couldn’t resist.

  * * *

  Rosalie peeked around the corner of the bookshelf. Jace and Bria were paying at the register and she loosened her grip on her books. God, if they had seen what she was buying…

  She took a deep breath. They didn’t see them – it was fine. They were leaving the bookstore and she heaved another sigh of relief. It was stupid to feel so self-conscious, she decided as she hurried toward the cashier. Even if they had seen her books, what was the big deal? She was an adult woman buying books about sex. She studied the books in her arms. There was nothing to be embarrassed about or –

  “Crap!” She ran head-first into a warm, hard and oddly-familiar wall of flesh. The books flew from her arms and landed on the floor as she staggered back. She stared up at the rough features of Hudson. The polar bear shifter scowled at her and she gave him a nervous smile.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He grunted in reply and she watched in slow-motion horror as he bent and reached for her books.

  “No, don’t - ”

  It was too late. Hudson had picked up both books and was studying the covers. The one in his ham-sized right hand was bright blue. The woman on the front cover had the striking beauty of a supermodel. A lion, it’s mouth open in a roar, was sitting next to her. In yellow font, the title, “A Human’s Guide to Sex with a Lion Shifter” was scrawled across the top of the book.

  The book in his left hand was black with white lettering. Hudson studied the photo of the handcuffs embossed on the cover and she wanted to die when he read the title in his low voice. “So You Want to be Kinky. Fifty-Two Ways to Spice up Your Sex Life.”

  “They’re, um, a gag gift for a friend.” Her cheeks were so hot, she was waiting for them to simply catch on fire.

  “Right,” he said.

  “I’m sorry for smashing into you again.” She gave him a weak smile.

  “You do that a lot. Maybe you should watch where you’re going.”

  “Uh, yes, I will, um, start doing that.” Oh God, she needed to leave, but he was still holding her books. “Can I have the books back now?”

  He studied the books again before studying her. “Lion shifters are nothing but trouble. You should stay away from them.”

  “I told you – they’re books for a friend.” Her voice was too high and too thin. Why the fuck didn’t she just order the damn books online?

  “You’re not a very good liar, human.” He held the books out and she snatched them to her chest.

  Without another word, he turned and left. She could feel the floor shaking as he walked, and she watched as others in the bookstore turned to stare at him. Her heart thudding in her chest, she hurried to the checkout.

  * * *

  “Mom, I’m fine. Stop worrying. I had a few errands to run, that’s all. No, I’m not feeling sick, why? My voice is not rusty sounding. No, my throat isn’t sore. Mom, I have to go, okay? I’ll call you later. I love you too. Bye, yes, no I know…okay, bye.”

  Rosalie sighed and shoved her cell phone into her pocket before pushing through the exit doors. After her humiliating encounter with the polar bear shifter, she had gone to the food court and consoled herself with sushi before grabbing a coffee from the Starbucks. She took a sip of the hot liquid as she walked across the parking lot. She would go home, get into her pajamas and maybe do a little reading. She was stupidly excited to read her new books, and maybe get some ideas on how to seduce Lincoln and…

  Shit. She slowed to a stop and stared at the man bent over the engine of the truck. Maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it was some other giant-sized man who just happened to be a damn polar bear.

  She sighed again before walking toward Hudson. “Hey there. Car trouble?”

  He glanced briefly at her before bending over the engine of his truck again. “Yeah.”

  His big hands poked and prodded at the engine. When it came to what was under the hood of a car, she knew how to add windshield washer fluid, and that was the extent of her knowledge. Hudson seemed like he knew what he was doing, but the truck also looked about a thousand years old. She wasn’t surprised when he returned to the driver’s seat and nothing happened when he turned the key.

  She expected him to curse, maybe slam his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. Instead, he just slid out from behind the wheel, shut the door and closed the hood with a loud bang.

  “Are you going to call a tow truck?” She asked.

  “Nah. I know the part I need. I’ll pick it up tomorrow and come back and fix it.”

  “Oh. How will you get home tonight?”

  “Walk.” He walked away without saying goodbye and she bit her bottom lip.

  “Hey, wait. I can give you a ride home.”

  He turned and stared at her. “Won’t fit in your car.”

  “I drive a truck.”

  He looked her up and down. She could see the surprise on his face. “What?”

  “A little human like you drives a truck?”

  “I’m not little.” She wanted to giggle at the absurdity of the conversation. Had she ever once in her life been called little? No. Definitely not.

  He trudged back until he was standing in front of her. “You look little to me.”

  She craned her head up to stare at him. He made a good point. Compared to Hudson, she was little. Of course, a damn moving van would look little next to him, so she shouldn’t be too flattered.

  “Um, my truck isn’t parked far from here.”

  “I can walk.”

  “I’d like to repay you for helping me at the bar the other night. Let me give you a ride home, okay?”

  He shrugged. “Okay.”

  She shifted her bag of books to her other hand and blushed a little when Hudson stared at the bag. “Ready?”

  He nodded and followed her to her truck. He pushed the seat back as far as it would go and climbed into the passenger side. She threw the bag of books in the back and put her coffee in the cupholder between them. She slid behind the wheel and started the truck.

  “Um, I’m Rosalie by the way. You’re Hudson, right?” She asked as she buckled her seat belt.

  He nodded and slouched a little so the top of his head didn’t hit the ceiling. “Yeah.”

  “What’s your address?”

  He recited the address and she jerked in surprise. “That’s in Standen Park?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m in Standen Court which is right next to Standen Park. We’re neighbours.”

&nbs
p; He grunted in reply and she cleared her throat before driving out of the parking lot. After a few minutes, she said, “So, uh, thanks again for helping me at the bar.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Do you like working there?”

  “It’s a good place to work.”

  “That’s good.” He hadn’t asked but she said, “I work at a real estate agency. I’m a personal assistant but I’m thinking of becoming an agent.”

  He didn’t reply, and she stopped at a red light. The silence in the car felt thick and uncomfortable. She studied him out of the corner of her eye. He was wearing jeans with dark brown work boots and a t-shirt. This one fit him way better than his work shirt but it still stretched across his broad shoulders and clung to his upper arms. He wasn’t wearing a jacket despite the cool air.

  “Aren’t you cold?”

  He turned to study her. “I’m a polar bear.”

  “Oh right. That was a stupid thing to say. You probably never get cold, huh?”

  Another shrug before he stared out the window. She studied the back of his thick neck as the light turned green. She drove forward and cleared her throat again.

  “Can I ask you a personal question?” She decided his low grunt meant yes. “Where do you buy your clothes? Pretty sure you can’t just walk into a Macy’s and buy a pair of jeans.”

  “Order them online.”

  “Oh. Like a speciality store for, uh, large shifters?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That must be annoying. Not being able to buy clothes from a store here in the city.”

  “There are shifter clothing stores here.” He scowled at her. “Do you know anything about shifters?”

  “Not a lot.”

  “That guy you were with at the bar was a tiger shifter.”

  “Yes, but he’s my boss. We don’t, like, hang out on a regular basis or anything. The new receptionist, Bria, is a tiger shifter and we’ve sort of become friends. Are you, uh, friends with any humans?”

  “No.”

  “Oh. Because you don’t like humans or…”

  “I don’t know any humans. Can I ask you a personal question?”

  She nodded. “Oh, uh, yes, of course.”

  “Why do you wanna fuck a lion shifter?”

  Her face turned bright red and she groaned inwardly when she had to stop for another red light. “That’s really personal.”

  “You asked me a personal question.”

  “There’s a big difference between asking someone where they buy their clothes and asking someone about their sex life.”

  He just shrugged, and she stared out the windshield. She wasn’t going to tell the polar bear shifter why she wanted to sleep with Lincoln. It was none of his business.

  “I don’t want to-to just fuck a lion shifter,” she blurted out. “I want to date a lion shifter named Lincoln.”

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean, why? Why does anyone want to date someone? He’s handsome and smart and funny. I like him.”

  He looked her up and down. “You’re not his type.”

  “You don’t even know him. Besides, lion shifters like all sorts of women. Even chubby ones,” she said defensively.

  “Not talking about your looks. And I do know him. He comes to the bar all the time. Goes home with a different shifter every time.”

  She had an immediate urge to defend Lincoln. “That doesn’t make him a bad guy.”

  “You’re too sweet for a lion shifter.”

  “You don’t know that I’m sweet.”

  “Anyone who needs to buy a book on how to have kinky sex, is too sweet for a lion shifter.”

  “Oh my God! I am not discussing my sex life with you. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with expanding your knowledge on certain subjects. Reading is never a bad thing.”

  He laughed, and a weird trickle of heat went through her belly. He had a nice laugh. An amazing laugh, actually, and her irritation and embarrassment disappeared almost immediately.

  “You should stay away from him,” he said.

  “I’ll take your suggestion under advisement.” She pulled into the Standen Park complex and he pointed toward a townhouse.

  “It’s that one on the end.”

  She stopped in front of his house and he reached for the door. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He slid out of the truck. Before he could slam the door shut, she said, “I leave for work around eight. I can stop and pick you up if you want a ride to a car parts store or something.”

  He hesitated, and she smiled tentatively at him. “I really don’t mind.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he grunted. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. See you at eight.”

  “Bye.” He shut the door and walked into his house without looking back.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Would you like a drink? I have wine or beer.”

  Bria set her purse on the table as Jace opened the fridge. “A beer is good.”

  He pulled two bottles out and opened them before handing one to her. “Cheers.”

  “Cheers.” She clinked her bottle against his before taking a swallow of the cold liquid. She was feeling nervous and tense and she wanted to drain the bottle fast. Maybe it would make her stop feeling so anxious. Instead, she took a second, smaller sip. She had to drive home and if she drank it too quickly, she’d be too tipsy to drive.

  You could spend the night.

  She shut that thought down real damn quick. “So, um, if you get the salve, I’ll put it on your back.”

  “Sure.” He left and returned a few minutes later. “Here you go.”

  She took the jar of salve as he pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it next to her purse. She took another swallow of beer. His chest was healed, and she was itching to trace her fingers over all that smooth, hard flesh.

  “Turn around.” God, even she could hear the need in her voice.

  This was such a bad fucking idea.

  He turned, and she studied the healing slashes on his back with a mixture of relief and guilt. He inhaled before looking over his shoulder. “I told you they were better. Stop feeling so guilty, Bria.”

  “Right.” She unscrewed the lid and scooped out some salve.

  Be professional, Bria.

  Professional. Yep, she could be professional. No problem.

  Ignoring her tiger’s excited chirps and meows, she rubbed salve into each of the slashes on his back. He didn’t say anything, but she could smell his need for her coming off of him in slow waves. It sent her tiger into a frenzy of excitement and she could barely think past its loud purring.

  Shut up, you idiot!

  Her tiger growled at her as she stepped away. “All done.”

  “Thank you.” He turned and grabbed his beer, taking a long drink. She stared at his throat, at the way his Adam’s apple worked as he swallowed, and took another step back. She sipped at her beer as he set his bottle on the table and stared silently at her. God, why wasn’t he putting his shirt back on?

  “Um, okay, well I guess I should go.”

  “You’re not finished your drink.”

  She stared at the bottle in her hand. “Oh, uh, right.”

  She studied the cabinets, the fridge, the apples in the fruit bowl – anything but his broad naked chest. “Do you think you could put your shirt back on now?”

  He grinned at her and crossed his arms over his chest. “You don’t like the view?”

  She scowled at him and pulled self-consciously at her own shirt. “Do you always walk around half-naked in your kitchen?”

  He laughed. “I can’t help it if I’m comfortable in my own skin. Besides, I work out a lot to look this good. Might as well show it off, right?”

  “You’ve been hanging out with Lincoln too much. You’re becoming as arrogant as him.”

  “Impossible.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She cocked her head at him. “I
t’s weird that you two are friends. You’re very different.”

  He just shrugged. “Lincoln is a good guy. Don’t let the arrogance and raging sex addiction fool you.”

  She smiled a little. “Yeah, I know. He was surprisingly sweet that night at the club.”

  Jace winced. “I feel like I need to apologize again for that night.”

  “You don’t. Really. It was no big deal.”

  “I hope I didn’t say anything too embarrassing.”

  “You really can’t remember?” She took another small sip of beer.

  “No, not really. I don’t actually drink that often so I’m a bit of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.”

  “You don’t like the taste of alcohol?”

  “No, it’s just that drinking isn’t great for shifters with de -”

  He stopped abruptly, and she gave him a curious look. “Shifters with what?”

  “Never mind. Hey, do you want to see something in my basement?”

  She raised her eyebrows at him. “In your basement?”

  “That came out sounding creepier than I meant. I promise it’s nothing kinky.”

  “That’s a shame.”

  He laughed and held out his hand. “Come on. You’ll love it, I promise.”

  * * *

  “This is it?”

  “What do you mean, this is it.” Jace gave her an indignant look. “It’s incredible.”

  “It’s a pool table.”

  He ran his hand lovingly over the edge of it. “It’s not just a pool table. It’s a fully restored 1946 Brunswick Anniversary Pocket Billiard Table. These are really hard to find.”

  “So, you like pool, huh?” Bria touched the green cloth that covered the table.

  “I love it. I just got this table a month ago.” Jace took a cloth from the cabinet and wiped at the wood on the pool table. “Do you like playing pool?”

  “I don’t know how,” Bria admitted.

  Jace’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me.”

  “Nope. Never learned.”

  “That changes right now.”

  She laughed as he crossed the room and grabbed two pool cues hanging on the wall. “Are you serious?”